I don't know if he can replicate his 2023 season going forward, but in 2023 Montgomery was a #1 by any reasonable criteria.
Unfortunately the Sox have seemed to prefer to wait until players have a track record and are closer to FA, which ups the cost and limits the amount of control they can buy out. There’s always the risk that you wind up with the Erik Hinske contract (inflation adjusted), but it seems like the risk would be offset by locking up an Acuna-type deal.
How do we know what they prefer? They extended Whitlock one year into his career. Dustin Pedroia signed his first extension after two seasons. Jon Lester signed his extension after his second full season. It's not unprecedented for them to try to extend guys early. It does take two sides to agree. We don't know that they haven't talked extension and come to the mutual conclusion that they and the player are too far apart on what it would take.
Oh I agree. I was lamenting on opportunity lost. I do think there is an opportunity over the next 12 months to get a pitcher from the Marlins but the Sox are going to have to eat Avisail (ironically giving them a RHH power bat)
Does any team have that? If someone hits the strong side of a platoon well enough to be a full time player, why aren't they a full time player somewhere else?
While this is of course true, I do think that something that gave the Sox a bit of an edge over the past 20 or so seasons WAS their willingness to spend big on an elite designated hitter. Not just Ortiz, obviously, but JD Martinez as well.
I still think we’ll sign Soler. There are no teams with plausible DH openings besides the Sox and the Mets, and the Mets reportedly have $10 million to spend this year. They've been linked to J.D. Martinez in the past (under a different GM).
Yeah, obvioulsy the team Breslow inherited is really bad defensively. With the trade of Sale it looked like Breslow was going to honestly address the team's structural problems. A bold move in that direction would have been to acquire a good fielding third baseman (say, Chapman, who also satisfies the need for another RHH bat), moving Devers to DH, and then subsequently trading Yoshida (though maybe there are no takers??). These moves would be "getting real" with the team's foundational problems, one of the biggest being that the dude with the biggest contract is an absolute butcher.
In.
And now he is trying to get paid like that which is the problem. We will see what his contract comes in at. But personally I think Sox are better off seeing what they have in Houck and Crawford. This is assuming he gets more than say 5/115
Possibly. Though I admit his bat isn't good (or consistently good) enough that it's a move I'd want to make. If you can sign him and trade Yoshida (or another OF) fine, but as it is, I don't think he makes a ton of difference.
I think a lot of people underestimate the difficulty of the Red Sox job, and I could see that having just as much reason as to why people declined the offers to interview, and why I give Breslow probably more leeway than many others. I don't really think the "core" is all that good, and I don't think the farm system is all that special. Sure, there are some good pieces at the MLB level (Bello, Casas, Devers) and three really freaking good prospects (ATM) but outside of that, you're talking about a lot of problems with the MLB line up, defense, starting pitching, and nothing in the minors that looks like it's going to fix those things any time soon.
Do you mean the old DC Football owner? Dan Snyder is generally the one regarded as a complete shitbag, I really haven't heard much about Josh Harris (the new owner)
You sir are correct, I was thinking of the golden testicled Tepper. Are you kidding me?
Are you talking about Jorge Soler here? He's the 30th best bat in MLB over the last two years, by Savant's expected wOBA. If you count last year alone, he's the 18th best, a hair behind Devers.
I would agree that 5/115 is pretty close to the ceiling of what he should get.
Not trying to contradict you, but trying to think about what our 3B depth chart likely is.
I'm not sure it's realistic to expect even a team with championship aspirations to have someone on the bench who can replace the production of a hitter like Devers, let alone to also have a different player on the bench who has the actual talent of an everyday outfielder.
I just cannot fathom people not wanting to add right handed power to this team. Yoshida needs rest. Abreu cannot play vs lefties. Duran is a complete unknown. O'Neil has injury history. They do not have a set DH.
Just to be clear, I think the negative outcomes are actually more likely (in the case of Valdez, Abreu, etc). I don't think Bloom did a good job identifying prospects in his deals by and large, but this is a separate argument because...
I just don't understand why, based on the current roster, you think Soler precludes you from seeing what Abreu can do?
Soler precludes them from finding out what somebody can do.
I think the argument goes that with Soler at DH, Yoshida is in left, Duran is in center, and O'Neill is in right field. O'Neill and Yoshida have fairly flat splits and are everyday players, and Duran is left-handed too. Someone would probably need to get injured or traded to make room for Abreu, his arm, and his bat.
I'm not saying that we should or shouldn't sign Soler, but isn't the whole point of the Boston Red Sox as a Major League Baseball team to win games? If you want to see if the kids can play, let them get ABs in Worcester. The idea that this next season as some sort of tryout is depressing to me -- especially since we've seen that happen for the last three out of four seasons.
Not to be obvious, but those kids have had plenty of opportunity to show they can hit at Worcester -- and they have. Getting them at-bats at Worcester obviously wouldn't let us know how/if they handle big-league pitching, and if they can adjust well enough.
Yes, but without adding significantly to starting pitching, they're not winning more than 77 ish games anyway.
I agree with you, even if I wasn't clear in writing it. If Devers goes down, that is a loss, period. Finding someone who is capable of playing OF/1B who hits better than Refsynder shouldn't be impossible.
Readers Digest version...Soler on this team means someone gets bumped. Since his only defensive position is OF, it stands to reason his spot on the roster will come at the expensive of another OF. The young guys have options, if RFsnyder isn't cut someone else is starting the season in WOOstah. Also, spring training is likely going to have say in this.
I agree with this. The whole goal here is to win games at the Major League level. And I think many of us are unclear why trying to win Major League games in the "2026 window" precludes the Red Sox from spending another $10-25M to win Major League games in 2024.
I believe this came up during reports that the team was interested in Teoscar Hernandez. The Athletic reported "But according to one person with knowledge of the talks, the Red Sox prefer to tackle other areas of the roster and reduce payroll before committing to the free agent." Hernandez is now off the board, but one can presume the same truth remains for other potential free agents.
Sam Kennedy said this at the Winter Weekend two weeks ago, and it was covered extensively:
And Tom Werner backed him up:
https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2024/01/red-soxs-sam-kennedy-2024-payroll-expected-to-be-lower-than-it-was-in-2023.html
https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2023/12/with-chris-sale-traded-whats-next-for-red-sox-more-subtraction-possibly.html?utm_campaign=masslivesports&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
If it's a five year deal, I suspect it's closer to 125 than 115. I could live with that. But I'd prefer a four-year deal - which would probably have to be at something like 105, and maybe throw in an option for a fifth year that could vest based on IP.
It was literally less than two weeks ago when Sam Kennedy was quoted by various media outlets to the gatherers at the Sox Winter Carnival (per the Globe and Alex Speier) "CEO/president Sam Kennedy turned heads with his acknowledgment at Winter Weekend that the Sox are likely to carry a smaller payroll in 2024 than they did while finishing last in 2023 — particularly after they likewise trimmed payroll from $232.8 million in 2022 to $225.7 million in 2023."
I get this point of view and definitely share the sentiment that more should’ve been done in the offseason. However, it’s February 1st, what else is the team going to spend money on at this point? It’s not like this money rolls over to next year like football…it just goes into FSG’s pocket.
I get that. And I think that it's smart to let rookies come up and take their hacks and see if they can stick in the majors--that's how rookies become every day players who become stars who become super stars who become Hall of Famers. That's baseball 101. The best way that this is done is through one or maybe two players in a lineup -- think Pedroia in the early part of 2006 or Ellsbury in 07 or Bogaerts in 2013 -- that has veteran protection. Because if we're running out a lineup that has Grissom, Durran, Abreau and Rafaela all trying to get over their Kirk Cameron Growing Pains--not to mention Trevor Story trying to come back from a year-ling injury that sapped him of his hitting skills--that leaves Casas, Devers, Yoshida and Wong as the only surefire bats in the lineup. And the last two were average and average-er.
This is a pile on at this point but if you don’t have any idea why people think FSG and Breslow are cutting payroll your head is in the sand or you're not paying attention
Signing Soler means someone gets bumped…if every one on the current roster remains healthy and productive. If you just go into the season with this roster, what happens when, say, Story gets hurt and Duran is struggling? Certainly you are playing Reyes and Refsnyder and have called up Hamilton and (insert AAA OF name here).
You've got 13 spots for position players on the 26 man roster. If Soler is signed (something that I've not advocated for or against) someone gets bumped. Rearrange the deck chairs as you see fit.
Henry: "No. Talk to the fans about The Fenway Experience instead. If you absolutely need to, we have funds to hire a sidekick for Wally."
None of that says they're currently trying to shed payroll from where they are right now. It's already lower than last year.
