Let's get crazy: Sox among teams interested in Edwin Diaz

Unpopular Opinion here but I'd trade Pedroia, Swihart, + a prospect (depended on second player) for Diaz, Mallex Smith (or insert another player/prospect), and Cano (eat 25 mil$). I think Cano's bat will age well and he still great at second could move to first after next year with Mitch and Pearce contracts up or could DH if JD leaves if he declines defensively at Second.

I don't really want Cano ,but could this be a chance to move Rusney?

The Mariners would still need to eat contract. Plus a lot would depend on the pedroia situation

My nightmare is DD including Darwinzon or Mata in a deal like that.

OTOH, what if they took on $20M annually for Cano? He’s still an above-avg defender. And he can hit, though not like he used to. He’d probably benefit getting out of Safeco. Idk what they’d do with Pedroia, but Cano could DH and JDM play RF. DD might even do something wacky like send JBJ to CO for Gray. That’d let them move Porcello’s deal and save $ there, covering Cano’s salary. And Gray would be an upside low-cost replacement. Diaz would save them a ton at closer. Idk...there’d have to be a lot of moving parts for me to want Cano’s deal, even with some salary relief.

Craig Edwards did a nice piece on the pitfalls of finding a way to arrange a trade for an underwater contract:
www.fangraphs.com/blogs/making-a-robinson-cano-trade-work/
I figure Diaz, with four years of control, is worth 4/65 if you go off of the Chapman and Jansen deals. That means he probably provides about $50M in excess value ($0.5M, $1M, $5M, $10M for renewal and rough arb figures). Cano’s deal is $40M underwater. I actually think Cano, provided he can play 2b for a couple of years, plus some 1b and DH later, might actually do a little better than his projections. He’d have the benefit of a more forgiving home park, and a better lineup around him. He also has walked more recently and his K rate remains low, which both suggest to me that his hit tool is good enough that he’ll age pretty well. The PED issue bothers me a good bit, but...he’s been a good hitter for a long time, and Nelso Cruz has aged well. Lol, maybe that’s where he got his stuff. Regardless, I don’t think he’ll be a huge drag until after year 3. At that point, youve gotta hope that Hernandez, Houck, Mata, Groome, maybe Shawaryn...at least two are 3/4 starters and coming cheaply, providing sufficient value to offset some big salaries elsewhere (including hopefully Mookie, Beni, Bogey, and Rodriguez). So is it worth it to include, say, Chavis/Dalbec and probably a guy like Mata? Idk...Diaz would be huge and Cano would actually probably make them better this year and provide Pedroia insurance. But I still think it makes more sense to give Britton 3/$30M or Soria 2/$18M and save the prospects, given that they have Holt and Lin for 2b and will need $ for extensions. The last thing I want to see is another trade for a reliever who breaks down, a la Bailey/Hanrahan/Smith/Thornburg. Especially if it means carrying an albatross deal that affects future extensions.

Yeap, you get Cano and Diaz, you don't resign Mookie or Xander. Which would be a bigger loss than any one of the Sox top 3 prospects in the system right now.

Cano's contract is one of the biggest albatrosses in baseball. There might be a reason why he's taking PED's, maybe to keep his performance up as he declines.

Diaz is probably one of the best 3 closers in baseball right now. That being said, just sign the best reliever you feel available outside of Kimbrel.

nypost.com/2018/11/27/mariners-reliever-edwin-diaz-isnt-entirely-off-limits/


Only way Sox get this done is by taking on a ton of the Cano contract which I can't see them doing, but hey, it's a reported rumor, so let's roll with it. What say you?

FWIW, who's the last player the Red Sox had reported interest in that they later traded for under Dombrowski? Is there one? This feels like he's getting involved to drive up the price.

I couldn't remember whether there were real reports on Sale (not "Boston could trade for Sale" in a general sense) before it went down for real. That said, assuming you're right, I bet he's the only one. Kimbrel wasn't reported before it happened, none of the in-season trades were reported, Thornburg, Smith, etc. It's always "oh crap they made a trade," which is why I often remember where I was when hearing about them (Wiseguys Pizza for Kimbrel, gym for Thornburg, Winter Meetings for Sale).

He moves quickly on trades when he's serious and usually gets the other side to keep it quiet.

How would people feel about Rusney and Pedroia for Cano, Diaz and cash?

Honestly, I have trouble taking this report seriously.

The last thing the Sox need to do is take whatever money they have left to spend on Cano so they can get a good closer. That doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

So the Sox would have to trade prospects to get him. So perhaps say Chavis, Hernandez, Feltman, and Duran as a possible package?

And is it good for the Sox to clear out their top prospects given their situation? I would think the more you hang onto the better you have a chance of hitting on one that does about as much as the guy who you're trading for. Sooner or later these 4-1 type deals kill you.

I really think it's Dombrowski doing due diligence.

I agree DD is doing due diligence. If the Sox and Cano are involved in a Diaz trade, I would think it would be a multi-team deal where another team ends up with Cano.

Appears that the Mets and Mariners are moving toward a deal.