If the knee’s healthy, I’d prefer him on a one-year deal over Merrifield, and I like the guy’s energy. I don’t feel especially confident he’d be better than Urias, though, and finding out if the latter can stick could help the ‘25 team (maybe via trade).
I was thinking more like a split contract that pays $2m in the minors or $6m in the majors. If he’s getting $12m guaranteed, I definitely wouldn’t want to be the one giving it to him, but who would do that?
Bogaerts has a no-trade. Do we think he waives it to come back to Boston? I tend to think no, even with the new guy at the helm. I think the only chance that Bogaerts goes anywhere is if the Pads are asking him to move off SS and there's somewhere he can go that will keep him at SS. And that ain't Boston, at least not for very long.
I was Anderson-Curious as a potential trade deadline acquisition until someone alerted me to the fact that he's been on a steady decline and is an asshole. I'd rather see Arroyo out there and I don't want him anywhere in New England even
https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2023/11/whos-on-second-craig-breslow-open-to-internal-and-external-options.html
I think it would come down to how the Sox anticipate their defense will play at 2B. Urias has only started 120 games at 2B over his career. Rosario never played 2B until last year, and only had 20 starts there.
That +16 DRS all comes from a +22 rating in 2022, while he has had a negative DRS each of 2020, 2021, and 2023. You always have to take defensive stats with a grain of salt but that seems highly suspicious. If we are going with a glove over bat guy, I would call the Cardinals about Tommy Edman. His bat isn't likely to be good but seems to have a floor around 90 OPS+, and the glove is pretty consistently above average at 2B and SS. I think if we are going to pair someone with one of Urias or Reyes, the new guy will need to be able to backup Story.
Denver would be an incredible place for Dalbec to land. He could launch 35 HR's out of that ballpark and probably another 12-15 on the road.
He had a craptacular second half and saw his OPS plummet. Not sure if it was injury related but definitely a red flag there. Was hoping to deal for him in early June
India had the 6th worst OAA at 2B this season (-3.4). Of course Urias was 7th & Valdez was 9th despite far fewer innings. He was 4th worse in '22 (-5.9). According to Statcast he's in the 8th percentile in range & 15th percentile in arm strength. Don't see a lot that separates him from our current motley crew.
I like it.
Dalbec is oddly fast! His sprint speed was 28.1 ft/sec last year, and 28.3 the year before. That mark would rank as 3rd fastest on the Rockies 2023 team.
I'm warming up to the idea of trade for Drury. I didn't appreciate how good his defensive numbers are at second base and the fact that he has played 1B, 2B, 3B, LF, and RF. If they could swing a trade, maybe work on an extension and he could potentially transition from 2B to super-sub over the next few years.
I guess I'm not convinced Brandon Drury is a good baseball player. That chase/whiff/BB section of his profile suggests the drop-off could be pretty steep, when it comes.
I know it's impossible to know what other moves will be made, but the 2024 Red Sox would have to look really good on paper to justify giving that up for one year of Kim.
Fair, but he was an iron man before 2022 and only 30. The bat is still terrific for a 2B, with an expected wOBA of around .350 and an elite walk rate vs. RHP. Switch-hitting a big plus, can spell at 3B and he's a good enough hitter to DH. I don't think 2/$22.5M is prohibitive at all.
I think they'd have rightfully demanded a haul last offseason, but Adames had a down (massively unlucky?) year at the plate and isn't tremendously cheap. Besides, his shortstop market could be thin. I'm not seeing a lot of contenders with holes at the position.
I'm not a big Cronenworth fan and certainly not willing to eat that entire contract. He was a very good second baseman before Preller's largesse pushed him to first. Given the situation with San Diego's reported need to shed payroll and the Soto decision, I have to think it would be something we'd be willing to consider.
The defense concerns are noted, though maybe room for optimism if he's no longer hurt.
This was discussed a couple weeks ago too. The fit could work in the same way Semien's one-year deal with Toronto did, in an even more favorable hitters' park. It's definitely risky, but with Valdez and Yorke as backups I could see it being an interesting bridge.
Edman just put up the same wRC+ you used to deride Cronenworth above. Not sure what happened to the defensive marks last year. I don't dislike him but I kinda want someone who can handle RHP better. I'd worry that I'd pine for Valdez to take over the strong side of a platoon, in which case what's the point.
Lot of uncertainty, and bad defense. Probably not a solution to 2B, but I really like the plate discipline and the bat. Still, if they got rid of Urias, Vargas is probably not the direction they're going.
In general, I expect them to get someone with plus defensive metrics and a better-than-average chase rate/plate discipline. Rosario and Drury are each a bit too much of a hacker for my tastes (to be fair, Anderson very much is too).
I'll give my 2 cents on C, Jake Cronenworth. Presumably, taking him means less heading to San Diego in terms of prospects, while getting an incredible bat in Juan Soto. So, if that's something San Diego is interested in to reduce payroll, it's something I'd at least consider. He's a guy who can play all over the infield (only 1 inning at 3B because SD had Machado, but I think he could play there in a pinch). Last year was a disaster for him at the plate, but the prior two seasons he had an oWAR of 4.4 and 4.3. If you think you can fix what was wrong last year and get that Jake Cronenworth, it's worth thinking about. The one drawback to this kind of deal is that it makes the Red Sox even more left-handed, so you'd have to figure out how to add more RH bats to the lineup.
Yeah, you're probably right. But my thinking was a rental like Kim might be preferred to a guy like Cronenworth who's signed through 2030 so they can get Yorke/Mayer into the fold in '25.
With Adames in his walk year and Turang with years of control left (he's just finished his rookie season) I don't see the Brewers in such a hurry to move him. Taking that into account, if they do consider moving him they might be looking for a pitching return if they are prepared to move on from Burnes and Woodruff. Given the Sox pitching needs and desire to cultivate their own pitching talent is that something they would consider when the need at 2B seems to be a one year stop gap?
Expensive? He’s 34 years old and in decline. The highest projection I’m seeing online is 2/years 18 million.
Merifeld will be 35 and had a WAR of 0.7 this past year. If “nothing” means going with Valdez and Reyes and spending the $$ elsewhere, I vote for nothing.
Hah, I'm not the only one who hits backspace instead of "m". Welcome to Fatfingerville, we have hats and everything.
Definitely hope they can acquire someone better than Merrifield, but I don’t see doing nothing as a viable option. Both DRS (-5 in 196 innings for Reyes, and -6 in 357 innings for Valdez) and OAA (-2 and -4) hate both Valdez and Reyes - which is a good part of why the worst defensive position for the worst defense in the majors was 2nd base (according to OAA) last year. Considering that we aren’t even sure either will hit consistently that seems like a glaring hole to enter the season with.
Not really into Merrifield, but OAA is a much better measurement than DRS because it factors in where the player actually is positioned. He was a bad OF by all metrics which dragged down his overall defense.
There is a price point where one would be willing to see if Baez can bounce back from a 61 wRC+ in 547 PAs (he was at 117 as recently as '21) as he is a really good defender... but it's not even a third of 4/$98m.Source: Detroit Tigers are available to listen to trade offers for Javier Báez, Tigers owe the shortstop $98M for the next 4 years #JavierBaez #Detroit #Tigers
‘Available to listen’ is even funnier, make us a strong enough offer and he’s not completely untouchable.
I mean, that would actually make a ton of sense for us. Less for Detroit.
No need. Enmanuel Valdez has mastered 2B.
