Mid-Season Acquistion Time

Will Smith would be my target out of those 3. I feel like he’d possibly be the cheapest too

I think the amount of competition for his services will drive his price up somewhat.

The Indians are currently sitting in the WC2 spot 1 game over Boston and Texas. They're not trading away pieces.

Yeah, the Indians would be crazy to sell anyone while being in the WC spot. But the Red Sox would be crazy if they didn't sell everyone they could even if they had the same record.

I would agree on seller mode. Bradley, Holt and Porcello would be my first choices to sell. Cut some payroll and build the farm up a bit.

The goal of the Boston Red Sox organization isn't to have the best farm system. It's to win the world series. A balance is needed and right now the farm system is lacking. But to sell now, a game out of the the wild card would be admitting defeat. It's cowardly. Make a play to get into the playoffs and anything can happen.

You're not trying to win in that case. You are just calling stalemate if you admit defeat on the prospect of the bullpen not getting better by adding a elite reliever.

You can't win if you're not afraid to lose, would be how the saying goes for me.

The goal of every Boston team is to win every year. That mentality is going to bite you eventually. They're at serious risk of missing the playoffs entirely as they're 2.5 behind Tampa, 1.5 behind Texas and 0.5 behind Cleveland while 1.0 over Oakland. I'd also be worried about the 2 game set in London without Price and Sale which means you might be looking at sinking a tad further. No, I'm not saying they're out. I'm saying the 14 game stretch at the deadline is crucial. If they're 4 games out of WC2 by the deadline are you confident in trading away Casas or Dalbec in trying to win now? Even if you get in you're dealing with a 1 game scenario. If they're up 1 or 2 in WC2, fine, do what ever you feel is best if you feel like adding a piece can put these guys over the top.

Right now DD should be exploring both avenues and ready to deal in either direction by the trade deadline. He's notorious for trading early than waiting around, but I strongly feel you have to wait till the deadline before deciding what to do. Then again, what can DD really buy? No one in the system is really worth anything, at least for high end talent.

That makes little sense to me. They have until 7/31 to upgrade the pen and I expect they will. What does 3 weeks ago have to do with anything? Even if he had gotten somebody 3 weeks ago, they'd still be well behind the Yankees. The division race is probably over but the Wild Card race has just begun. He's not going to let the Red Sox fail to make the playoffs because he didn't improve a problem area.

In terms of WAR will it make much of a impact? Nope, but in terms of actual wins it might.

The problem with Holland is that he is mediocre and doesn't move the needle. Mediocre could have helped throughout a whole season in terms of depth, because mediocre would have been better than the bad that the Sox got out of Thornburg or Brewer for example to start the year.

Good luck trying to match up with playoff calibre team's bullpens and praying you make it through to the world series if you have less depth (and you do have less depth, at the moment). It's just too bad this is going to be pushed until the trade deadline and teams are going to wait it out. The Sox would benefit from making a impact reliever trade sooner, rather than later.

Last year was only one example of one team making a run. The Indians made it to the world series with a elite bullpen. The Royals were built off of a elite bullpen. The Cubs had one of the best closing acquisitions in MLB history with Chapman. The Orioles made a run to the championship series built on a elite bullpen.

Last year also taught us that having little depth can cost you a world series. Do you remember the Dodgers running out Ryan Madson because they had no one else to go to? Well that could be your 2019 Red Sox playoffs right there. They could literally be running out Ryan Brasier in tight ballgames because the Sox have no one else to go to, unless you make a move.

There's only 2 or 3 untouchables in this system for me. Groome, Casas, and Flores. I would find multiple packages including 2 top ten prospects in this system for a Diaz besides those 3 untouchables. Like I'd try and stay away from Darwinzon in a trade with Giles because of the lack of team control, but Duran? Dalbec? Mata? Feltman? Houck? Sure package two of them and beat someone else's trade package to get someone elite. Chances are, none of these prospects will be elite ever.

There's been 4 or 5 prospects that you can even look back on and say that the other team got good value for. Moncada, Buttrey, Logan Allen, Kopech. Like Dombrowski traded a million of them and that's the only ones we are left talking about. None of these prospects are missed by me. Go buy them in free agency in 5 years if the Sox miss them so much (they don't miss them that much).

You know what would be a bigger travesty than depleting a already non existent farm system? Not maxing out Mookie Betts, Devers, Xander's, JDM (for as long as you have him), Price, and Sales' primes. Like you're sitting here with an obvious weakness and blowing more games than any other team in baseball. ***LIKE THIS MOVE WILL OBVIOUSLY MAKE THE SOX BETTER WINS AND LOSS WISE, WHY IS THIS A QUESTION?!!!*** Every single division leader in the American League has a better bullpen than the Boston Red Sox. You're worried about a farm system when you can try to fix your biggest bullpen problem while Xander Bogaerts is playing like the 2nd best player in the American League. Yeah, that's not smart at all.

After this 3-4 year window when Sale, Xander, Mookie, and Price are finishing up their careers in Boston or are close to done in their careers, you're talking about blowing up the team anyways and starting over. Keep playing to win when you have some of the best pieces in baseball. It's a game to me. I'm not sentimental about any prospect, never will be. I'll never look back at the Buttrey and Logan Allen deals and say they lost.

You're asking the wrong guy who you would trade. I would trade virtually anyone (besides my untouchables) to get Xander another ring for example and make that ring number 3 on his hand. That's the prospect I'm sentimental towards. The guy that's already helped you win multiple times.

Dombrowski would get lynched in this town if he stands pat and the bullpen keeps up their blown save streak... Especially if the sox miss the playoffs by only a game or two, or makes the playoffs and the bullpen blows saves in playoff games.

I think Dombrowski needs to get creative. He not only might trade prospects, but someone from the major League roster to get a reliever.