Well, he's done everything else just exactly as he said he was going to this offseason. I guess I'll have to take his word that the team's about done with the 25-man roster.
It's not that different, really, than when he came out and flatly stated that he was targeting a 4th outfielder and a frontline starting pitcher. He seems to prefer to take a more proactive approach to avoiding leaks to the media by laying his cards on the table up front. Definitely a contrast to the cloak and dagger style of Theo and Ben.
Doesn't it always improve your negotiating position to come across like you're all set and don't need anything? (Which is not to say he doesn't mean it, but there could be an advantage to saying it whether he means it or not.)
According to an AP article, there is a second sentence:
Namely: I'd love a deal where we give up a minor prospect or two to make Sandoval for Shields happen. Shields had an interesting year in 2015 but could help bolster the rotation a bit and to me losing Sandoval in favor of some combination of Holt/Shaw/Swihart would be addition by substraction.
Unless I missed something, I haven't heard a word from or about Pablo this offseason. Is he working out and losing weight, or getting fatter? I haven't given up on him enough yet to agree that simply losing him is addition by subtraction. Plus, I want no part of James Shields.
Seems pretty fantastical to me. The Pads are shopping Shields in large part to reduce payroll (like they did in trading Kimbrel). Can't see why they'd take Sandoval back as that wouldn't result in any savings at all unless the Red Sox pay a significant portion of Sandoval's contract. The end product would be essentially paying, what, $110-120M ($63 owed + ~$50-60M of the $77M owed to Panda) for three years of Shields. No thank you. Shields isn't clear-cut better than what they have now in terms of middle of the rotation talent.
Shields put up a 93 ERA+ last year. How does he bolster the rotation?
It's an interesting approach. Sort of a story-ender. Considering all of the other GMs (team presidents, etc) already know basically what your team is trying to do, I can't see a downside to this approach with the public. Even if you're after someone who you don't eventually get, it's not like that wasn't going to be reported anyway.
I think it was previously suggested that some combination of Holt, Shaw, and Swihart could man 3b - any one of whom could foreseeably be better than Panda (probably the worst regular in baseball last season) next year. Of course, if the Padres are only interested in dumping salary it's not clear why they would be willing to take on Sandoval (unless perhaps the Sox took on Kemp as well- which I can't imagine them doing)...
I don't think Hanley would be anything but a pretty bad 3b at this stage but at least A. I think he can still hit the ball and B. You'd have only one potential terrible IF rather than two.
IMO his message is that the Sox are mostly set and are now in a position of power wrt trade talks. Anyone interested in a Red Sox player or prospect can put together an offer. See you at the General Manager's meeting.
I totally agree.
Why would Dombrowski be interested in bringing in a malcontent who very likely wouldn't handle the "demotion" to a set-up role very well (because he isn't closing with Kimbrel on the roster), especially in a walk year in which he'd want to do what he can to earn one more payday contract?
Well, I don't think he would be too interested (because of those reasons mostly), but at the same time he is still an "above average" bullpen arm that would be available without costing a prospect in return, or require a multi-year commitment. He also doesn't "need" to be the closer in the way he did before (since it triggered the option year from his Philly contract) so if the alternative is ending up closing for another shitty team with no playoff hopes or being the set up guy for a competitive Sox, he may decide the Sox scenario is better. Nats are likely going to dump him somewhere after last season's fiasco.....
Oh, I get what is attractive about acquiring Papelbon, but he still has a limited no-trade-clause and there are teams out there who can contend and use him as their closer in the process.
I'm a bit leery of Miller for a couple of reasons: First, I think he'd cost another top prospect on top of the package you listed, possibly Devers, for instance - which is a ridiculous price. This is an assumption on my part, but the Braves are probably shopping him as a #1A/2 starter, which brings me to my second point; he isn't. He walks a lot of guys, and has vastly outpaced his FIP and xFIP every year. Overall, he's a solid rotation arm, but I don't think he's necessarily an upgrade over Porcello, Miley, Buchholz or Rodriguez. Even if he is, he's not enough of one to justify dealing top prospects. Have to think the Braves are looking for an overpay here.
I'm starting to think that the strategy is to get an upper tier #2 while restocking the farm with whatever return comes the Sox way. Perhaps the FO is trying to clear out some coin to go after Cueto...
Not sure what the match is here, unless we're getting back prospects. If I'm trading Miley or Buchholz to the Mariners, there are only two names I'm interested in, and those two names get me laughed at and hung up on.
Too Late!
Where is there anything suggesting a trade for Encarnacion? That story is suggesting that they're monitoring the situation in the case that he doesn't sign an extension and becomes a free agent next winter, he could be a prime candidate to bring in as an Ortiz replacement at DH/1B.
When a team has interest in one of our players, but doesn't seem to have the right match, a three team trade may be possible.
I wouldn't go that far with it. Although seeing him spend the extra money on a David Price instead of trying to get overly value digging cute on a 5/$90m Shark deal is certainly refreshing imo.
Or, you know, not so much. So what's next after Miley then, Trader Dave?
My problem with this strategy is that I think we're nearing the point where the cure is not better than the disease. I.e., any pitcher we can get without either really decimating the farm or surrendering one of our young cornerstone players is probably not an upgrade over Buchholz, except perhaps in reliability.
