Offseason rumors

[ehaz]

Right now, they’ve lost 48 starts between Sale, Paxton, and Kluber. Let’s say we’d prefer to not do the opener thing at all, so that’s 16 more starts. So you are looking to replace 64 starts. You’d like to hope Giolito can take 28 of them.

So down to 36. Would be great to add another legit SP…but theoretically, could you get that many more from a combination of Pivetta (16 starts last year), Houck (21), Whitlock (10), and Crawford (23)?

Probably, but less than ideal, obviously.

I feel relatively confident that you can squeeze 28 starts out of Pivetta (+12) and maybe a few more out of Crawford to (+5). 21 starts was a career high for Houck and he broke down. Same for Whitlock, whose innings totals the last three seasons have been very consistent: 73, 78, 72.

Maybe it's all just been bad luck with Whitlock but I think there's an argument to be made that you may be fucking with his career with all this moving back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen. Perhaps just a defined role in the bullpen is what's best for his career and value to the team versus relying on him doubling his innings pitched to build your rotation? Remember the reason Bloom was even able to select Whitlock in the Rule 5 draft is because injuries set him back in the minors...

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

View: https://twitter.com/jimbowdengm/status/1744915164476936406?s=46


This, oddly, makes me feel better. His market just never materialized. ML Teams just don’t like him apparently.

Fascinating, really. The home runs must be something that teams universally don't think is fixable with a change in pitch mix. If not, it's going to be a freak show at Wrigley.

 

[soxhop411]

Fascinating, really. The home runs must be something that teams universally don't think is fixable with a change in pitch mix. If not, it's going to be a freak show at Wrigley.

That or some injury concerns. Feel like gophers balls can be fixed. Someone who may have some injury flags, less so.

 

[ehaz]

Hard to judge that structure without knowing the details. Is that 2/$30M with a player option for another 2/$30M or are those additional 2 years a team option that can vest? If it's a vesting/team option, how attainable are the incentives?

This isn't enough of an indicator right now to say no one really thinks Imanaga can pitch in MLB. $15M AAV is exactly what Kodai Senga got at the same age. Half the MLB who thought Senga was too much of a relief pitcher risk is probably kicking themselves right now for not trying to beat that deal by $50M.

 

[johnlos]

Seconded. Lance Brozdowski did a YT video on him and concluded that his stuff is fairly middling. No Yamamoto or anything remotely close.

He struck out more guys in Japan last year than YY and will cost ~1/3 the price. So yes, he's no YY, but he has legitimate upside. I'll see your Lance Brozdowski and raise you Trevor Bauer (Imanaga's teammate last year):


And unlike Snell, JMont, Luzardo, Cease, Stroman, whomever we were supposedly one of two teams still in on him. Not that I want to watch Blake Snell pitch anyway.

It's looking increasingly likely we re-sign 80 innings Paxton and call it a day for the pitching staff.

 

[CR67dream]

View: https://twitter.com/jimbowdengm/status/1744915164476936406?s=46


This, oddly, makes me feel better. His market just never materialized. ML Teams just don’t like him apparently.

There are definitely legitimate reasons to not want to take the risk. It's been discussed quite a bit. The combination of no MLB experience and his tendency to give up home runs should scare anyone.

I get that a good front office hunts value but if you need something, don't you have to be willing to pay the market rate at some point? Especially when you're as far below the tax threshold as they are?

What do they absolutely need so desperately that they've passed on so far? Not one of the guys they didn't get bothers me at all. People are acting like they're passing on star players, but so far they haven't. Not even any really good standouts. And I'm not too high on breaking the bank for the Boras clients either, but it's only money and I'll be happy to welcome either if a deal gets done, but I'll be satisfied with adding mid to bottom rotation depth which should also strengthen an already decent looking pen.

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

That or some injury concerns. Feel like gophers balls can be fixed. Someone who may have some injury flags, less so.

I think it was @kazuneko who posted some really good information about Japanese pitchers and their home run rates when transitioning from Japan to MLB. The history is that it almost always gets worse, so I'm not sure that it can be fixed in his case when it's such a high rate to start with.

 

[kazuneko]

The only way I'd be worried about losing Imanaga to the Cubs (for 15M per year over multiple years) is if Breslow wanted to bid but was told he couldn't go that high. Imanaga was the biggest gamble in this year's free agent pool. Yes, he could have a high ceiling but he also has a very low floor.
There is a good chance he gets totally hammered in the States as he gave up way too many homers in a Japanese league which is going through a modern-day dead ball era.
Breslow knows more about pitching than any of us - if he wasn't convinced he could successfully take on the Imanaga project that makes me feel pretty confident he thinks Imanage is going to be a disaster. Now if he wanted to bid higher than the Cubs and that was nixed by the Red Sox brass that would be a different story...

 

[moondog80]

If his base is 30/2, nobody thought he was all that good, not just the Red Sox.

 

[nvalvo]

21 starts was a career high for Houck and he broke down.

Did Houck "break down"? He was struck in the face with a batted ball.

 

[ehaz]

Who did Breslow work for prior to November? I'm guessing he was probably involved in that team's internal assessment of Imanaga.

 

[ehaz]

Did Houck "break down"? He was struck in the face with a batted ball.

Didn't he also have back or arm issues or was that the year before? Sorry these last place years are all kind of blending together.

 

[curly2]

In the very beginning of the offseason, Breslow said he was looking to add two pitchers, one via free agency and one via trade. Giolito is the FA. If he's keeping his to his plan, the second will be a trade. But that might have to wait for Montgomery and Snell to sign so rosters are settled.

In the very beginning of the offseason they still had Sale, who made 20 starts and threw 102 innings.

 

[johnlos]

View: https://twitter.com/bradfo/status/1744895827443945824?s=19

oh well if we can get a 33 year old with a 2.75 K/BB and a 5.15 xFIP why spend $100m?

 

[6-5 Sadler]

Because there's a report he wants to come here? Let's pump the brakes on that until there's any sign of interest coming from the Sox.

The comment was intended to be tongue in cheek but clearly missed the mark. Having said that, I feel like we need at least one more starter and the number of free agent pitchers that could actually improve this team is getting smaller and smaller.

I’ve been pretty vocal about not wanting Imanaga so no real loss there. I’m not completely ruling out Snell, Monty, or Stroman but at this point I feel like it’s unlikely we land any of them. After that it’s Paxton, Ryu, and the Bauer/Clevinger/Urias/German group (who, just so we’re absolutely clear, I want no part of).

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

Half the board wanted to give Imanaga $100M a few hours ago, now folks are fine with losing him because he only got $30M! He does certainly seem high risk, if he can’t cut that HR rate, he is Kei Igawa.

 

[Harry Hooper]

Didn't he also have back or arm issues or was that the year before? Sorry these last place years are all kind of blending together.

Houck had to get back surgery {lumbar discectomy} in September 2022. This scares me a lot in terms of keeping him vs. a trade, but I have no access to the medical assessments. It did not seem to be an issue in 2023.

 

[thepriceisright]

Plenty of moves left to be made. This team was 8 games over .500 into late August and held a WC spot multiple times last season pretty much without a shortstop, second baseman, or real starting rotation. There is a competitive team somewhere in there, and I honestly don't think you have to squint that hard to see it. The division doesn't help but I don't think they're as far from being a contender as some people make them out to be.

 

[CR67dream]

Half the board wanted to give Imanaga $100M a few hours ago, now folks are fine with losing him because he only got $20M! He does certainly seem high risk, if he can’t cut that HR rate, he is Kei Igawa.

Who wanted him at that price? I didn't want him at the price Chicago paid. Time will tell if I'm right in that assessment, but your opening sentence is beyond hyperbolic. If half the board wanted to throw out that kind of money for an unproven commodity like that, I'd find another board.

If half the board wants anything, it's to see the Sox make any move of substance as a show of good faith. That's understandable, but the FO should give less than zero fucks about that.

 

[simplicio]

Half the board wanted to give Imanaga $100M a few hours ago, now folks are fine with losing him because he only got $30M! He does certainly seem high risk, if he can’t cut that HR rate, he is Kei Igawa.

If Breslow or any other GM had valued him at $100m I'd be much sorrier to lose out on him.

 

[HangingW/ScottCooper]

Ehhh... they got outscored 23-3 in the last three games of that series. In your hypothetical do you put Schwarber in RF over Hunter Renfroe? I guess then Rizzo replaces Renfroe's offensive cratering with something slightly better. But the Stros starters and bullpen pushed the Sox to the breaking point, beyond what one single (also K-prone) bat could have changed.

That was a team that looked like it was going to the World Series until the bats all of a sudden went quiet.

 

[HangingW/ScottCooper]

Another way that I'm looking at it, at least, is that often times those guys are going to have a ton of trade value.

Case in point, Texas ostensibly could use some bullpen help. I don't know about anyone else, but I'd trade them Jansen, Martin and PIvetta for Jack Leiter in a quarter of a second, and I don't think Texas would do that because they'd probably get more for Leiter. (Just as a point of reference, BTV considers Jansen, Martin and Pivetta for Leiter to be almost an exactly fair trade).

Jack Leiter has very little value right now. Most of his value is in his last name.

 

[CR67dream]

Plenty of moves left to be made. This team was 8 games over .500 into late August and held a WC spot multiple times last season pretty much without a shortstop, second baseman, or real starting rotation. There is a competitive team somewhere in there, and I honestly don't think you have to squint that hard to see it. The division doesn't help but I don't think they're as far from being a contender as some people make them out to be.

I agree, there is a lot to like and a lot to build around. It's not like last year's team sucked from start to finish, and their injury luck was brutal. We've got some really good players, and even if it's not the big splash many want, I am still very hopeful for that to be even more true come spring training.

 

[SemperFidelisSox]

Who did Breslow work for prior to November? I'm guessing he was probably involved in that team's internal assessment of Imanaga.

The team that just signed him.

 

[ehaz]

Seconded. Lance Brozdowski did a YT video on him and concluded that his stuff is fairly middling. No Yamamoto or anything remotely close.

Except that's not at all what he said. He called his fastball unique and his splitter filthy. I mean, he takes the under on pretty optimistic 121 ERA+ 3.1 fWAR Steamer projections at the end of the video which I think is smart given that he's never pitched here before but it's not like Brozdowski was saying that the guy sucks.

View: https://twitter.com/LanceBroz/status/1744880626895905115

I guess we'll see soon enough. Szymborski and Eno Sarris really put themselves out there on Imanaga. All the pitch shape guys almost universally loved him whereas Baseball America was interestingly very down on him.

View: https://twitter.com/DSzymborski/status/1744904745548964317

View: https://twitter.com/FoulTerritoryTV/status/1744471539179737412?s=20

 

[catomatic]

I’m choosing to tell myself he was a bad choice for Fenway, regardless of any revamped pitch mix. Can’t say I’m persuaded just yet.

 

[kazuneko]

The team that just signed him.

Maybe he was one of the guys against signing him. Who knows?

 

[DeadlySplitter]

Clearly, as said, teams were not that excited by him with this being the final result. Either that or teams used the perception he has a very low floor and dampened his value, I choose to not believe that much underhandedness is going on.

 

[ehaz]

Maybe he was one of the guys against signing him. Who knows?

Seems a bit weird for them to have been one of a handful of teams that "remained involved in the Imanaga bidding as recently as this morning" as Speier reported if their CBO thought Imanaga wasn't worth much more than a Corey Kluber.

Maybe McAdam, Speier, Cotillo, Rosenthal, McCaffrey are all just doing the reporter equivalent of palm reading, but I think it's at least as likely that the Red Sox FO were not permitted to match or exceed a free agent guarantee like Imanaga's without a corresponding salary dump trade of Kenley Jansen.

 

[chrisfont9]

That was a team that looked like it was going to the World Series until the bats all of a sudden went quiet.

I think Astros pitching deserves a lot of the credit. Russo wasn’t changing it.

 

[chrisfont9]

The team that just signed him.

Which doesn’t play in a park with a short left field.

 

[TomRicardo]

Holy shit that Cubs contract for Imanaga is making the Sox contract for Giolito look awful.

 

[kazuneko]

View: https://twitter.com/FoulTerritoryTV/status/1744471539179737412?s=20

I don't know, this is a bit much. I mean, yeah, Nestor Cortes has a career HR rate of 1.3 per 9 innings and has been pretty good, but it's no shock that Cortes's best season was in 2022 when he lowered that rate to .9 and - even more importantly - the concern with Imanaga isn't that he's going to have a 30% increase to his NPB HR rate (if Imanaga has a rate of 1.3 HR/9 innings the Cubs will be ecstatic) but, as is more typical of NPB pitchers, see his HR rate double or triple. And the idea that a few simple changes is all that it takes seems a bit off. Imanaga is trying to make the transition to the Majors from Japan - which has traditionally had far less homers than America but just happens to be in a modern-day dead ball era. They literally had one of their league's HR champion take that title with 26 homers last year. One of the reasons Yamamoto was so prized is that NPB HR rates are perhaps the best indicator of future success in the Majors and he had the lowest ever of any Japanese pitcher attempting to make that transition (.1/9 innings). Imanaga's HR rate is ten times that number. But yes, Imanaga is a very interesting case. He does have good stuff, and you can totally see how some GM would think that he could defy the historical trend that is making other team's wary. If Breslow thinks that is unlikely and it was reflected in a low bid then I trust that he knows what he's doing, and considering the risk, it's not surprising.

Seems a bit weird for them to have been one of a handful of teams that "remained involved in the Imanaga bidding as recently as this morning" as Speier reported if their CBO thought Imanaga wasn't worth much more than a Corey Kluber.
Maybe McAdam, Speier, Cotillo, Rosenthal, McCaffrey are all just doing the reporter equivalent of palm reading, but I think it's at least as likely that the Red Sox FO were not permitted to match or exceed a free agent guarantee like Imanaga's without a corresponding salary dump trade of Kenley Jansen.

This is the big question. If Breslow wanted to outbid the Cubs but wasn't allowed to, that's disturbing, not as much because they didn't get Imanaga but because of what that says about the team's priorities

 

[6-5 Sadler]

Seems a bit weird for them to have been one of a handful of teams that "remained involved in the Imanaga bidding as recently as this morning" as Speier reported if their CBO thought Imanaga wasn't worth much more than a Corey Kluber.

Maybe McAdam, Speier, Cotillo, Rosenthal, McCaffrey are all just doing the reporter equivalent of palm reading, but I think it's at least as likely that the Red Sox FO were not permitted to match or exceed a free agent guarantee like Imanaga's without a corresponding salary dump trade of Kenley Jansen.

Maybe but it’s also weird that Heyman tweeted that the Giants were in it and then tweeted an hour later they were not. Does their general manager also have a mandate to dump salary? I think the most likely explanation given the lower than expected contract Imanaga received is that his agent was trying to create the perception of a robust market with the signing deadline approaching.

 

[cantor44]

In the very beginning of the offseason, Breslow said he was looking to add two pitchers, one via free agency and one via trade. Giolito is the FA. If he's keeping his to his plan, the second will be a trade. But that might have to wait for Montgomery and Snell to sign so rosters are settled.

But they just tried to sign Imanaga - or were one of the final two teams in on him the say he was signed. It seems they ARE willing to sign a second free agent.

 

[nighthob]

Jack Leiter has very little value right now. Most of his value is in his last name.

Yeah, his command/control issues are pretty fatal right now. I said this earlier, between Leiter, Wikelman Gonzalez, and Luis Perales, my money's o the latter two having much better careers, and to reiterate, I'm skeptical of them. But they can at least throw strikes.

 

[kazuneko]

But they just tried to sign Imanaga - or were one of the final two teams in on him the say he was signed. It seems they ARE willing to sign a second free agent.

I think the question with free agents is whether or not there are any year or money limits that the team is forcing on Breslow and if that's affecting his ability to make a competitive offer.

 

[johnlos]

Except that's not at all what he said. He called his fastball unique and his splitter filthy. I mean, he takes the under on pretty optimistic 121 ERA+ 3.1 fWAR Steamer projections at the end of the video which I think is smart given that he's never pitched here before but it's not like Brozdowski was saying that the guy sucks.

View: https://twitter.com/LanceBroz/status/1744880626895905115

I guess we'll see soon enough. Szymborski and Eno Sarris really put themselves out there on Imanaga. All the pitch shape guys almost universally loved him whereas Baseball America was interestingly very down on him.

View: https://twitter.com/DSzymborski/status/1744904745548964317

View: https://twitter.com/FoulTerritoryTV/status/1744471539179737412?s=20

Thanks for doing the work to call this out. Another way to look at Imanaga projection.


Bauer put up 1.8 fWAR in 17 starts at age 30 with LAD. Imanaga was as good or better than him last year in Japan. So 0.1 fWAR/start is totally reasonable, which would put Imanaga in the 2.5-3 fWAR range. Steamer has him at 2.6 WAR fwiw:

 

[SoxinSeattle]

Thanks for doing the work to call this out. Another way to look at Imanaga projection.
View attachment 76335

Bauer put up 1.8 fWAR in 17 starts at age 30 with LAD. Imanaga was as good or better than him last year in Japan. So 0.1 fWAR/start is totally reasonable, which would put Imanaga in the 2.5-3 fWAR range. Steamer has him at 2.6 WAR fwiw:
View attachment 76336

I think he might be good but if the math was that easy the Cubs would have had a lot more competition.

 

[kazuneko]

Holy shit that Cubs contract for Imanaga is making the Sox contract for Giolito look awful.

Yeah, I never had much interest in Imanaga but if he really signed for 2 years guaranteed at $30 million I'd much rather have him at that price than Giolito at what the Sox gave him.
They are both high-risk/high-reward signings but with the Giolito deal it feels like the Sox are taking all the risk. I mean, sure, if he's good next year I guess that helps them, but I doubt they are contenders next year either way. If he's bad they are stuck with him for another overpaid season. If Imanaga is good at least the Cubs get to keep him another year at what would become a below market rate.

 

[Rovin Romine]

Holy shit that Cubs contract for Imanaga is making the Sox contract for Giolito look awful.

Nobody knows what the Imanaga contract is exactly at this point.

But if you've seen it, why don't you explain just what it is?

 

[CR67dream]

Nobody knows what the Imanaga contract is exactly at this point.

But if you've seen it, why don't you explain just what it is?

This is from a link someone posted above: Jim Bowden said:
------------
According to club source #Cubs deal with Imanaga is something close to 2 yrs 30 can grow to 4 yrs 60 and can even reach 80 m with multiple opt outs ...deal is Very Complicated. Player/Team Options/Escalators…etc but thats the general ball park agreement
-------------

I don't know how why it's being compared to Giolito, though. The Sox needed, and are now paying for, an established ML starting pitcher to eat innings and keep them in games. Imanaga has not yet thrown a pitch at the MLB level, never mind proven that he can be effective at that level. I would not be comfortable if Imanaga were here here and Giolito or similar were not already.

To me the Sox don't look bad here at all, they are far from the only team who decided the risks were too high.

 

[BringBackMo]

Half the board wanted to give Imanaga $100M a few hours ago, now folks are fine with losing him because he only got $30M! He does certainly seem high risk, if he can’t cut that HR rate, he is Kei Igawa.

You‘ve been posting some pretty wild mischaracterizations of other people’s positions. If you’re serious about contributing to the discussion, can you please cite the posts that you are dismissing? Disagreement can be fun and interesting, but distorting what other people are saying in throwaway two-line posts isn’t exactly persuasive.

 

[Rovin Romine]

This is from a link someone posted above: Jim Bowden said:
------------
According to club source #Cubs deal with Imanaga is something close to 2 yrs 30 can grow to 4 yrs 60 and can even reach 80 m with multiple opt outs ...deal is Very Complicated. Player/Team Options/Escalators…etc but thats the general ball park agreement
-------------

I don't know how why it's being compared to Giolito, though. The Sox needed, and are now paying for, an established ML starting pitcher to eat innings and keep them in games. Imanaga has not yet thrown a pitch at the MLB level, never mind proven that he can be effective at that level. I would not be comfortable if Imanaga were here here and Giolito or similar were not already.

To me the Sox don't look bad here at all, they are far from the only team who decided the risks were too high.

Agreed.

But to calibrate this more finely, we'd need to know whether the $80M was triggered just by innings, or purely player options, or if the club could pull the plug (declining options) - and if so under what conditions. Those details aren't yet available, so comparing it to anything at this point is kind of a fool's game. Maybe it's a great contract for the Cubs, and maybe it's awful.

 

[BringBackMo]

Except that's not at all what he said. He called his fastball unique and his splitter filthy. I mean, he takes the under on pretty optimistic 121 ERA+ 3.1 fWAR Steamer projections at the end of the video which I think is smart given that he's never pitched here before but it's not like Brozdowski was saying that the guy sucks.

View: https://twitter.com/LanceBroz/status/1744880626895905115

I guess we'll see soon enough. Szymborski and Eno Sarris really put themselves out there on Imanaga. All the pitch shape guys almost universally loved him whereas Baseball America was interestingly very down on him.

View: https://twitter.com/DSzymborski/status/1744904745548964317

View: https://twitter.com/FoulTerritoryTV/status/1744471539179737412?s=20

Thanks for posting these. I wanted no part of him after some persuasive posts by @kazuneko regarding how Japanese pitchers typically see a huge spike in their HR rate after transitioning to the majors. Might have even been that they double? Still, these are some sharp baseball observers so will be fascinating to see how this shakes out. It is interesting to me, though, that none of Yamamoto’s suitors, who by definition all need pitching, appears to have gone very hard after Imanaga. Overall, I’m glad we didn’t sign him.

 

[CR67dream]

Agreed.

But to calibrate this more finely, we'd need to know whether the $80M was triggered just by innings, or purely player options, or if the club could pull the plug (declining options) - and if so under what conditions. Those details aren't yet available, so comparing it to anything at this point is kind of a fool's game. Maybe it's a great contract for the Cubs, and maybe it's awful.

Yes, I agree as well, and as I was replying, it occurred to me that you were talking about the finer details. I've had just two sips of coffee so far... ... You are not one to miss a widely available report, or check to see if there is one.

I guess I'm just not really concerned with those details, if the framework is even close (and who knows, it's Bowden) it's still a pass for me. Even with the details, I just don't think anything about Giolito's contract is particularly relevant.

 

[BringBackMo]

Seems a bit weird for them to have been one of a handful of teams that "remained involved in the Imanaga bidding as recently as this morning" as Speier reported if their CBO thought Imanaga wasn't worth much more than a Corey Kluber.

Maybe McAdam, Speier, Cotillo, Rosenthal, McCaffrey are all just doing the reporter equivalent of palm reading, but I think it's at least as likely that the Red Sox FO were not permitted to match or exceed a free agent guarantee like Imanaga's without a corresponding salary dump trade of Kenley Jansen.

I don’t think it has anything to do with needing a salary dump prior to taking on a middling salary like this. I think it’s much more likely that there was a determination that, beyond a certain price, it just didn’t make sense because there will simply be better moves for them to make with the same resources.

If we pull back and look at Lugo, Hernandez, and now Imanaga, I think we’re seeing a pretty clear pattern: The Sox are interested in certain…let’s call it “imperfect” players who nonetheless can improve the team. But they’re interested in them on their terms and at the right price. The Sox are reported to have made offers to all those players, but once the terms/price moved beyond what they wanted, they were out. They obviously have backup plans for players like this—they’re flawed players and not the sort you make a godfather offer to.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, has there been any reporting that the Sox even made an offer to Imanaga? There may have been and I simply missed it.

 

[HfxBob]

What do they absolutely need so desperately that they've passed on so far? Not one of the guys they didn't get bothers me at all. People are acting like they're passing on star players, but so far they haven't. Not even any really good standouts.

Sonny Gray was second in the AL Cy Young voting last year. He has a career WAR of about 30. How is that not 'really good'? Yes, I know, he wanted to sign with St. Louis, but isn't it kind of classic sour grapes to argue that he isn't very good anyway?

 

[burstnbloom]

I think we are all dying for the seratonin boost the Sox making a move would give us but I can’t get super upset about imanaga.

I’ve watched all the pitch shaping videos and read all the articles and he’s intriguing. The data on his fastball is really exciting and with some changes in deployment, he could be a weapon. That said, there isn’t a single analysis of this guy that says he can pitch the way he did in Japan and be successful in MLB. If he throws that fastball to right handed batters in mlb (which he will see significantly more of in Chicago) at the bottom of the zone, he’s going to get taken to the moon at a league worst rate.

What if he refuses to alter his arsenal and pitch deployment? What if the reasoning and explanation is lost in translation or taken the wrong way? I just think he’s a really risky pitcher because he needs to change what he has been doing for 10 years to reach his ceiling in mlb.

hes easily the riskiest commodity on the pitching market this year and I can’t fault any team for passing. If the leaked contract details are real, it sounds like most teams were worried about all of these things as well.

 

[HfxBob]

I don’t think it has anything to do with needing a salary dump prior to taking on a middling salary like this. I think it’s much more likely that there was a determination that, beyond a certain price, it just didn’t make sense because there will simply be better moves for them to make with the same resources.

If we pull back and look at Lugo, Hernandez, and now Imanaga, I think we’re seeing a pretty clear pattern: The Sox are interested in certain…let’s call it “imperfect” players who nonetheless can improve the team. But they’re interested in them on their terms and at the right price. The Sox are reported to have made offers to all those players, but once the terms/price moved beyond what they wanted, they were out. They obviously have backup plans for players like this—they’re flawed players and not the sort you make a godfather offer to.

But who are the less flawed players they're targeting?