Your Top 2 "Untouchable" Prospects

Even though I said in a previous post I would deal Casas in the right deal I'd say to me it's Casas and Bello.

They both are already in the majors so perhaps that is cheating a bit but Bello to me showed he was capable of being at least a back of the rotation arm with upside for much more and Casas to me showed the ability to work counts and be an ML caliber bat. Since both are already providing value to the ML squad at minimum salaries that is extremely valuable in my mind. All the other prospects could flame out next year and leave us wondering what happened there?

I guess I would also add, I don't think anyone should be "untouchable". If you can trade Bello for a cost controlled ace right now and Casas for a 3+ WAR cost controlled player you probably should do it but those are my two picks for the fun of this exercise.

Bello and Mayer, followed by Bleis

For me it is Mayer and Bello, with Bleis almost there but not quite just because of how young he is. SS and SP are in such demand now when you look at the money some of these guys are commanding that I don't see how you can let either of those 2 guys go. Even if Mayer's hit tool doesn't develop to what people think, with his defense I think a not-crazy floor to put on him would be a left handed version of Dansby Swanson - plus defender with a league average bat. And Dansby Swanson is about to get around $150 million at age 29. The same goes for Bello to me - even mid rotation guys are getting $15-20 million/year. Neither Mayer nor Bello need to reach their ceilings for them to have enormous impacts on your team. And if they do reach their ceiling they can be franchise altering.

I don't think Casas or Rafaela should be untouchable though. Both are great and I would prefer Bloom hold onto them, but 1B limits Casas' ceiling and there are enough questions around Rafaela's bat that I wouldn't mind dealing either of them if the return was good.

The Red Sox desperately need significant production from young, controllable players.

I wouldn't trade anyone who has a chance to give them that over the next two years - Casas, Bello, or Rafaela.

And I also wouldn't trade the high upside kids in their low minors. In my mind, that's Mayer, Yorke, Romero, and Bleis.

And yes, I realize that this means they'll miss out on a lot of trade targets this winter.

Casas because he looks like a goofball that will be fun to root for
Rafaela because I think he's probably undervalued around the league

Mayer and Blaze. Say what you will about the latter but he's still soooo young and I really think he's on the path to becoming something hella special.

Mayer and Casas.

Listening to Ian talk about Bleis last podcast makes the answer very easy it’s Bleis and Mayer

Not too into the idea of trading any big prospect right now, but I certainly wouldn’t call Rafaela untouchable. It depends on the org’s actual view of him. If they think he can be an average or better hitter, you probably have to be blown away. But if they see more of a Victor Robles type of outcome as more likely, then he would make sense to sell now after a breakout season.

Picking 2 is hard. I’ll say Mayer and Bello, but it makes little to no sense to trade Casas either, and Bleis is the type of lottery ticket you hold onto. His upside far surpasses his current trade value.

Mayer, Bleis, Bello.

Wait you can only pick two! Fine!

Bello and Mayer, no wait, Mayer and Bleis, no wait, Bello and Bleis. Ughh I will settle on Mayer and Bleis.

I’ll go with Mayer and Casas since Bello is no longer listed here.  I’d be sick if any of Bleis, Rafaela, Yorke or Perales was dealt.