Red Sox acquire SS/3B Adalberto Mondesi for Josh Taylor

mauidano

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So deal LH relief pitcher Taylor to get the MI backup. Then sign a new LH relief pitcher to replace Taylor. That works....as long as the new guys stay healthy.

FWIW, from 2017-2022, Sherriff pitched a whopping 44.1 innings at the major league level. At a 3.65 era, 1.31 whip, and 7.3 k/9.

In other words, hardly ever healthy, and not even very good when he has been healthy.

But we're talking about backup IF and end of the bullpen lefty, so it's not a huge deal.
100%. Small pieces looking down the road.
 

Tim Salmon

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Can't say that he's a good player after a 54 PA season, but there's plenty to be intrigued by. He was Baseball America's #29 prospect in 2016, and he's only 27. Injuries have been the story, and I wonder whether KC's development system was the best spot for him as a hitter.

Here's a good piece on him from September 2018 by Jeff Sullivan (now of the Rays org) when he was still with Fangraphs.

Pullquote: In terms of sprint speed this season, Mondesi ranks in the 98th percentile. He’s clearly one of the fastest runners in either league. And then, in terms of xwOBA on contact, Mondesi ranks in the 79th percentile. The dots up there to his right are Ronald Acuna and Trevor Story. Mondesi is very, very fast, and he’s also capable of hitting the ball hard. That establishes a potential star-player foundation. What’s missing, of course, is the discipline component.

Here's another that compares him to Byron Buxton.

If you were to prorate his 2021 season in which he played 35 games, he'd be worth 4.1 fWAR. But you can't really do that.
I see the age and old prospect rankings, but I can't get too fired up about a guy with eye-popping strikeout totals and abysmal on-base skills for the past 7 years. I'm glad this ship has a rudder, but I don't expect Mondesi to help steer it.
 

Max Power

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Also what in the world are the Royals doing in trading for an aging oft injured left handed 7th inning guy? That’s a contender move. Additionally they just signed Chapman, who I know is a 8/9 th inning guy.
If they don't think they're contenders and are looking to flip guys at the deadline for prospects, a reliever is usually much easier to move than a middle infielder.
 

JM3

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If they don't think they're contenders and are looking to flip guys at the deadline for prospects, a reliever is usually much easier to move than a middle infielder.
Taylor also has 3 years of team control & Mondesi only has the 1. Seems fine from their perspective. Taylor is almost 30, but I think they'll be ok with his age 30-32 seasons.
 

brandonchristensen

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sounds like another Arroyo type. Great when playing. Can’t rely on him.

Perhaps the idea is two Arroyos gets you a full season of above average play?
 

TapeAndPosts

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In the absence of progress I am willing to accept chaos
This is my new favorite life quote.

Nice to imagine that his speed and exit velocity could be turned into something better by a different team than the Royals. Who knows? If he can stay healthy. Still, he's intriguing, and in January that's all I can ask for.
 

Ale Xander

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I really like moving relievers for positional players, so count me in. And the more Enrique plays in CF and not the IF, the better, if you ask me. And good Arroyo insurance too.
 

budcrew08

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It's another Bloom lottery ticket, which is fine given the current SS situation and Story's injury.
If you can't spend like that crazy guy Cohen for the Mets, a handful of lottery tickets might be the way to go for 2023, all things considered.
 

Archer1979

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I've always wondered what it would be like to be traded. It's like, you're working at Ford, and then all of a sudden you're told that you've been traded to GM.

(I know many people here have had to move to new offices in different parts of the country, so maybe that's roughly the same. But this is getting traded to a different company altogether.)
I've got a friend whose son bounced around the NFL this year between practice squads and active rosters. For a young, single guy, the biggest issue for him has been in having three active six month leases.

A pitcher like Josh Taylor should be easily replaceable He's certainly not the difference between being able to contend or not. On the other hand, the Sox really need a good glove at shortstop. IF he can stay on the field, hopefully his defense makes up for the difference between his bat and X's.
 
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Harry Hooper

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sounds like another Arroyo type. Great when playing. Can’t rely on him.

Perhaps the idea is two Arroyos gets you a full season of above average play?
That's what I was thinking. That plan goes sideways, though, when players are hurt at the same time.

I didn't expect a 1-for-1 trade, given the need for room on the roster.
 

simplicio

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As far as lefty replacements for Taylor go, both Murphy and Walter are already on the 40 man; not sure we see Sherriff jump ahead of them if there's not more space created.
 

Kliq

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If you can't spend like that crazy guy Cohen for the Mets, a handful of lottery tickets might be the way to go for 2023, all things considered.

There is a middle ground between dumpster diving and spending like Steve Cohen, though.

In this instance, after losing X, there really were not a ton of options for the Sox to fill the void at SS, especially with the Story news breaking later in the off-season. They have a hole at SS and there wasn't anybody left in FA (outside of Correa) who could make that big of a difference, so you might as well see in Mondesi can get it together. It's a bad situation but they had to get someone and Mondesi is at least a lottery ticket.
 

JM3

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JM3

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As far as lefty replacements for Taylor go, both Murphy and Walter are already on the 40 man; not sure we see Sherriff jump ahead of them if there's not more space created.
They might prefer to keep those 2 stretched out in the minors as starters.
 

MtPleasant Paul

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Gonna be a polarizing figure
Why so?

His father Raul Mondesi had a long history of outbursts culminating with one egregious episode with Joe Torre and was sentenced to prison on corruption charges after he went into Dominican politics.

Don't want to ascribe the sins of the father to him, but is there smoke here? Do you know something about his personality?
 

HangingW/ScottCooper

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I really, really hate nepotism.
Nepotism got us David Ortiz. We can probably assume that Mondesi will be the exact same player + steal 40 bags a year if healthy.

We're also getting a PTBNL!

Well, 1st we acquired the guy who did this to Duran...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCbz3mXb_R0


& now we got the guy who did this to Pivetta...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE8QYeVgnes


Maybe something is happening there.
I assume a trade for Rowdy Tellez is the next shoe to drop.
 

Petagine in a Bottle

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Why so?

His father Raul Mondesi had a long history of outbursts culminating with one egregious episode with Joe Torre and was sentenced to prison on corruption charges after he went into Dominican politics.

Don't want to ascribe the sins of the father to him, but is there smoke here? Do you know something about his personality?
He was suspended for PEDs in ‘16.
 

Scoops Bolling

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I have never liked Mondesi. I thought he was badly overrated as a prospect, and he's been awful at the plate pretty much his entire career. I would rather have rolled the dice on Elvis Andrus, or even Jose Iglesias, over an oft injured guy who can't hit worth a damn, and who is a juicer to boot.
 

chrisfont9

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I see the age and old prospect rankings, but I can't get too fired up about a guy with eye-popping strikeout totals and abysmal on-base skills for the past 7 years. I'm glad this ship has a rudder, but I don't expect Mondesi to help steer it.
I mean, he's got OK splits vs LHP and Fenway has brought out the best in plenty of RH hitters over the years? Seems like his floor isn't much different from Iglesias' and being younger he'll probably have decent range at SS for a while.
 

chawson

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Why so?

His father Raul Mondesi had a long history of outbursts culminating with one egregious episode with Joe Torre and was sentenced to prison on corruption charges after he went into Dominican politics.

Don't want to ascribe the sins of the father to him, but is there smoke here? Do you know something about his personality?
Sorry, I just meant that he's high-risk, high reward, lots of strikeouts, etc. Didn't mean anything about his personality.
 

Ed Hillel

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Buy low-sell high, seems like a no-brainer. They don't always work out, but when presented with the option, you gotta go for it.
 

BaseballJones

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What do you do when Story comes back?
If Story comes back at the AS break, and Mondesi is playing great, then you can get something reasonably good back for Mondesi in a trade. If he's stinking, then Story just replaces him and Mondesi goes to the bench or gets released. Not too big of a problem.
 

bosockboy

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I’d still look at Andrus or Iggy, as the price just went down a bit with Mondesi aboard. And would really love Chafin; our bullpen would be incredibly deep.
 

JM3

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I mean, he's got OK splits vs LHP and Fenway has brought out the best in plenty of RH hitters over the years? Seems like his floor isn't much different from Iglesias' and being younger he'll probably have decent range at SS for a while.
Some concerning things in his career splits...

* He has a career 92 wRC+ with no shift & 113 against the shift, so the shift ban does not seem likely to help him.
* He has been a very poor road hitter in his career (64 wRC+ compared to 93 wRC+ at home).
* He has been awful in high leverage situations...34 wRC+.

Some potentially positive things...

* Despite having a career 79 wRC+, he's at 96 when he plays SS (as opposed to 31 at 3B, 30 at 2B, 19 at DH, & -8 as a PH), so maybe he's more comfortable all the way around when he gets to play his favorite position.
* He has a pretty elite 404 career wRC+ on line drives so if he could learn to hit a few more of those...
 

Cassvt2023

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Very low risk move with potential high rewards. a no brainer. Maybe Paxton shifts to bullpen as 2nd lefty.
 

The Gray Eagle

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I'm ok with it. Time to sign Andrew Chafin to replace Taylor & call it an off-season?
Yes, please!

The range of outcomes for this team continues to grow… in both directions.
True, this team could be awful or good or anywhere in between, and adding another guy coming off injury adds to that.

In the absence of progress I am willing to accept chaos, so here’s hoping that the player to be named later is Tony Ruiz.
That would be a pretty clever move to add a guy like that who would have taken up a big chunk of our international money.

Even more impressive since he didn't pitch at all least season.
Having another person in the organization who can play a respectable shortstop is nice when the starter is a guy who's never played a full season there. The bench becomes Mondesi, Refsnyder, Wong, and either Tapia or Dalbec.
Yes, there definitely was a need for another guy who can play good SS defense. Mondesi will probably be a part-timer/platoon guy, unless he hits better than expected. It'd be great if he could stay healthy and play well until Story gets back. If he can't, it's no big loss.

I didn't even consider Taylor as part of the team any longer as it seems he's been injured forever and at this point is basically an afterthought in the bullpen construction. Seems like they just added Mondesi for nothing in a way.
Agreed, Taylor can't be relied on to even pitch at all and he might have been a candidate to be DFA'd to make roster room anyway.

If we now sign Claflin, we'd upgrade the bullpen nicely while adding a part-time IF. Plus getting a PTBN, who presumably won't need a 40-man spot.
 

Cellar-Door

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Definitely low risk and a solid enough trade.

Not sure I totally get the idea from some that it is "high reward", Modesi was a fairly high ranked prospect 8 years ago, at some point you move on from that, he's at this point a guy who has 7 major league seasons and hasn't been particularly good over them, even taking into account injuries (which to be honest probably lowers his ceiling more than raises it given his best tool was speed and he's likely to have lost some of that with now being 27 and post-ACL).
 

cornwalls@6

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Was really more interested someone like Kim, as an everyday SS. But the cost/and upside potential on this move is hard to be too bothered by. Seems like other than maybe another bullpen piece, they're probably done now.
 

DJnVa

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So I guess no on Kim, right?

Mondesi becomes the regular SS and hopefully he can stay healthy. But.... is he even all that good?
I'm sure it doesn't preclude getting Kim if the deal is right. But at least now the Sox have a better option (at least, they have *more* options) if they don't want to pay what SD wants. Which could drop his price.
 

DeadlySplitter

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I doubt the Red Sox make any more major moves. This move did add 2M to their payroll, and they're now about 9M under the first tax line (while not a cap, they really, REALLY should stay under it this year). They have three significant minor league signings that would be non-negligible salary if they come up to the majors: Alfaro, Allen, Tapia, and they'll want to keep the flexibility for those options if (when) the likes of Wong/McGuire, Verdugo, Mondesi falter.

Any move with the net salary being even or losing salary - just doesn't feel likely with this roster.
 

Cassvt2023

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Is there any talk of Paxton as a reliever? He has never once come out of the bullpen in a career that dates back to 2013. But that's not to say he can't?
There has been no talk of it that i know of up to this point. Yet Taylor has only been gone for 2 hours. If you take Sale, Pivetta, Bello, Whitlock and Kluber, you have 5 starters. No one has said anything about a possible 6 man rotation. In addition, Paxton is coming off missing extended time, so maybe shorter stints will benefit him. Cora has never been shy about using starters in the pen before.