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Mediocrity vs Tank-a-thon
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Post by benzinger on May 13, 2022 16:26:55 GMT -5
Guys, they're in fine shape for 2023. They don't look like a top tier contender, but they should be in the big group underneath them. This squad minus almost certainly X and Nate (maybe JDM) = optimism? They stink WITH Xander, Nate and JDM. Time to reload the farm system, reset the books and build the next great team. |
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Post by benzinger on May 13, 2022 16:28:58 GMT -5
This squad minus almost certainly X and Nate (maybe JDM) = optimism? It's this squad minus X and Nate and JDM and Kiké and $16 million owed to Price, which = $80 million to spend. Just think: Bloom could add eleven Wachas!
In all seriousness, it's going to be fascinating to see what they do in the next 11 months. It'll be really hard to get, say, the 17 WAR they got out of those four players in 2021 even from $80 million to spend (and hopefully a chunk of that will go into a Devers extension). But it's also a ton of flexibility for Bloom to work with, and at least some cost-controlled talent should be trickling up from the minors.
For just one $80 million shopping spree scenario... they might add $15 million as part of a Devers extension, sign Trea Turner for $27 million, sign Jose Abreu for $18 million, and still have room left over for three Wachas!
ADD: Oh, and $12 million (or is it $8 million?) off the books for JBJ. Could help them upgrade at catcher or OF or pitching.
ADD2: So like a lineup of:
Story Devers Turner Abreu Verdugo Casas mid-tier FA CFer (maybe just Kiké again)
Duran
adequate FA catcher
Rotation of:
Sale Whitlock Houck Paxton Wacha type ...with promising reinforcements at AAA.
That's a potentially competitive team. And ideally the professional GM of the Boston Red Sox can do better than I can in 5 minutes of thinking about it at building a roster.
Although the thought of 11 Wachas IS intriguing, I would be more interested in 7 JBJ’s. Just think of the defense!!! Good luck getting a hit with that defense out there. |
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Post by manfred on May 13, 2022 16:58:06 GMT -5
This squad minus almost certainly X and Nate (maybe JDM) = optimism? They stink WITH Xander, Nate and JDM. Time to reload the farm system, reset the books and build the next great team. I guess if someone said three years ago the Sox are on a 5-6year plan, we’d have all been on board? How long does a “rebuild” go on before you are just, you know, not a good team? Are the Pirates “rebuilding”? Put differently: if they sell big now, then maybe it is a few years too *late* — why not pull the plug back when you were trading Mookie and Beni instead of the on-going drip drip drip of pain? The whole thing sucks, and I am not excited about getting 6 more prospects to rank between 25-40 in the system and wait years on. Put differently again: how much are rentals of X, Nate, or JDM really going to get back? |
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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on May 13, 2022 17:57:47 GMT -5
They stink WITH Xander, Nate and JDM. Time to reload the farm system, reset the books and build the next great team. I guess if someone said three years ago the Sox are on a 5-6year plan, we’d have all been on board? How long does a “rebuild” go on before you are just, you know, not a good team? Are the Pirates “rebuilding”? Put differently: if they sell big now, then maybe it is a few years too *late* — why not pull the plug back when you were trading Mookie and Beni instead of the on-going drip drip drip of pain? The whole thing sucks, and I am not excited about getting 6 more prospects to rank between 25-40 in the system and wait years on. Put differently again: how much are rentals of X, Nate, or JDM really going to get back? 7 Pivettas, a Holt, and a Varitek? |
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Post by beasleyrockah on May 13, 2022 18:08:20 GMT -5
I guess if someone said three years ago the Sox are on a 5-6year plan, we’d have all been on board? How long does a “rebuild” go on before you are just, you know, not a good team? Are the Pirates “rebuilding”? Put differently: if they sell big now, then maybe it is a few years too *late* — why not pull the plug back when you were trading Mookie and Beni instead of the on-going drip drip drip of pain? The whole thing sucks, and I am not excited about getting 6 more prospects to rank between 25-40 in the system and wait years on. Put differently again: how much are rentals of X, Nate, or JDM really going to get back? 2020 was the first season of Xander's extension, and Mookie was traded prior to that. Trading him before the extension kicked in would've been awful - how many times has that happened in recent baseball history with a home grown star player? It looked bad with Bronson Arroyo, but he wasn't X. Trading him before 2021 was possible, but it still would've been a bad look and he was a huge part of a team that sniffed a WS appearance. Without him, especially for a prospect return, they very likely don't make the postseason at all last year. Trading him this offseason would've been tough considering the FA market and the Correa pillow deal, how much better would the return have been then vs now? Eovaldi was a negative asset when Bloom first took over. He smartly held him while dealing Price. He pitched well in the shortened season, but at best was viewed as a neutral asset then, no team was absorbing his deal and giving up a significant return before the 2021 season. During the 2021 season he likely had real value, but the team was in the hunt and he was a key part. Now he has less control remaining, but staying healthy and pitching well since that time has boosted his stock and I'd bet the difference in trade value now isn't that huge. JD never had real trade value. He's proven he agrees by opting in each year. I guess Bloom could've eaten salary to get a return but that limits the overall value as well. With hindsight I get questioning whether they should've done a more aggressive rebuild earlier, in theory it makes sense. Realistically, they didn't have many pieces that made sense to sell and would've returned real value. It's not all or nothing though, Vazquez for example made sense to sell earlier. |
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Post by manfred on May 13, 2022 18:21:17 GMT -5
I guess if someone said three years ago the Sox are on a 5-6year plan, we’d have all been on board? How long does a “rebuild” go on before you are just, you know, not a good team? Are the Pirates “rebuilding”? Put differently: if they sell big now, then maybe it is a few years too *late* — why not pull the plug back when you were trading Mookie and Beni instead of the on-going drip drip drip of pain? The whole thing sucks, and I am not excited about getting 6 more prospects to rank between 25-40 in the system and wait years on. Put differently again: how much are rentals of X, Nate, or JDM really going to get back? 7 Pivettas, a Holt, and a Varitek? I honestly can’t tell- is that good or bad? |
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2022 18:27:20 GMT -5
They stink WITH Xander, Nate and JDM. Time to reload the farm system, reset the books and build the next great team. I guess if someone said three years ago the Sox are on a 5-6year plan, we’d have all been on board? How long does a “rebuild” go on before you are just, you know, not a good team? Are the Pirates “rebuilding”? Put differently: if they sell big now, then maybe it is a few years too *late* — why not pull the plug back when you were trading Mookie and Beni instead of the on-going drip drip drip of pain? The whole thing sucks, and I am not excited about getting 6 more prospects to rank between 25-40 in the system and wait years on. Put differently again: how much are rentals of X, Nate, or JDM really going to get back? What is YOUR alternative plan $175,000,000 for Marcus Semien, Kris Bryant $182,000,000, Nick Castellanos $100,000,000 then complain why they signed them and trade them and eat the money. If you complain, suggest a solution. |
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Post by manfred on May 13, 2022 18:54:22 GMT -5
I guess if someone said three years ago the Sox are on a 5-6year plan, we’d have all been on board? How long does a “rebuild” go on before you are just, you know, not a good team? Are the Pirates “rebuilding”? Put differently: if they sell big now, then maybe it is a few years too *late* — why not pull the plug back when you were trading Mookie and Beni instead of the on-going drip drip drip of pain? The whole thing sucks, and I am not excited about getting 6 more prospects to rank between 25-40 in the system and wait years on. Put differently again: how much are rentals of X, Nate, or JDM really going to get back? What is YOUR alternative plan $175,000,000 for Marcus Semien, Kris Bryant $182,000,000, Nick Castellanos $100,000,000 then complain why they signed them and trade them and eat the money. If you complain, suggest a solution. No, but is that the plan for next off season? Because if you trade the best players, the only way you aren’t terrible next year is just that sort of FA splurge… so if we agree it is a bad idea, then we are a step closer to agreeing a total selloff is crippling. My plan is one of two things: a) dump everyone earlier when they were at higher value, thereby at least limiting the “bridge” to a few years — not half a decade or more… or b) resign Xander and Devers. I can live with trading Eovaldi, because I’m not sure what I’m willing to pay. I would not have signed Story — I’d have used that money on signing my own guys and then looked to my own system’s middle infield prospects. JDM would be a wait-and-see. I could go either way. |
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Post by incandenza on May 13, 2022 19:26:14 GMT -5
What is YOUR alternative plan $175,000,000 for Marcus Semien, Kris Bryant $182,000,000, Nick Castellanos $100,000,000 then complain why they signed them and trade them and eat the money. If you complain, suggest a solution. No, but is that the plan for next off season? Because if you trade the best players, the only way you aren’t terrible next year is just that sort of FA splurge… so if we agree it is a bad idea, then we are a step closer to agreeing a total selloff is crippling. My plan is one of two things: a) dump everyone earlier when they were at higher value, thereby at least limiting the “bridge” to a few years — not half a decade or more… or b) resign Xander and Devers. I can live with trading Eovaldi, because I’m not sure what I’m willing to pay. I would not have signed Story — I’d have used that money on signing my own guys and then looked to my own system’s middle infield prospects. JDM would be a wait-and-see. I could go either way. I don't get it. Don't trade Devers - yes, of course, only a sociopath would trade Devers in 2022. But none of Bogaerts, Eovaldi, or JDM are under contract for 2023 so they have to splurge after 2022 regardless. |
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Post by manfred on May 13, 2022 19:40:29 GMT -5
No, but is that the plan for next off season? Because if you trade the best players, the only way you aren’t terrible next year is just that sort of FA splurge… so if we agree it is a bad idea, then we are a step closer to agreeing a total selloff is crippling. My plan is one of two things: a) dump everyone earlier when they were at higher value, thereby at least limiting the “bridge” to a few years — not half a decade or more… or b) resign Xander and Devers. I can live with trading Eovaldi, because I’m not sure what I’m willing to pay. I would not have signed Story — I’d have used that money on signing my own guys and then looked to my own system’s middle infield prospects. JDM would be a wait-and-see. I could go either way. I don't get it. Don't trade Devers - yes, of course, only a sociopath would trade Devers in 2022. But none of Bogaerts, Eovaldi, or JDM are under contract for 2023 so they have to splurge after 2022 regardless. Then let the spending start with X. If you let him go, you have 3 options: move Story to short (brutal); sign Correa (likely even *more* expensive); sign Turner (no likely savings). Moving Story means a huge dropoff, and there are no attractive 2b on the next market. Or, keep Story at 2b and play Downs at SS. That means accepting another “development” year. |
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Post by incandenza on May 13, 2022 19:58:29 GMT -5
I don't get it. Don't trade Devers - yes, of course, only a sociopath would trade Devers in 2022. But none of Bogaerts, Eovaldi, or JDM are under contract for 2023 so they have to splurge after 2022 regardless. Then let the spending start with X. If you let him go, you have 3 options: move Story to short (brutal); sign Correa (likely even *more* expensive); sign Turner (no likely savings). Moving Story means a huge dropoff, and there are no attractive 2b on the next market. Or, keep Story at 2b and play Downs at SS. That means accepting another “development” year. That's fine, but they'll have to "splurge on a free agent" even if the free agent is Bogaerts. It's not a reason not to trade him in-season, if it comes to that.
(Are we convinced that Story to short is a "brutal" option? He's been good there his whole career.)
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Post by manfred on May 13, 2022 20:03:26 GMT -5
Then let the spending start with X. If you let him go, you have 3 options: move Story to short (brutal); sign Correa (likely even *more* expensive); sign Turner (no likely savings). Moving Story means a huge dropoff, and there are no attractive 2b on the next market. Or, keep Story at 2b and play Downs at SS. That means accepting another “development” year. That's fine, but they'll have to "splurge on a free agent" even if the free agent is Bogaerts. It's not a reason not to trade him in-season, if it comes to that.
(Are we convinced that Story to short is a "brutal" option? He's been good there his whole career.)
. Brutal because: a) he’s worse than X, so you lose that way and b) it leaves you with no 2b, and there are no attractive FAs there. So they’d *definitely* be worse for that. |
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keninten
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Post by keninten on May 13, 2022 20:51:31 GMT -5
I think the only question is if and when to pull the plug on 2022.
Bloom should be seeing what he could get now. He doesn`t have to do anything yet but if a deal can be made that he really likes he`d probably should do it. |
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Post by GyIantosca on May 13, 2022 22:01:38 GMT -5
I think Bloom wants nothing to do with this roster. I am dying to know this off-season what the plan is. Does he believe in the prospects or does he have an eye on something else. To me the keys guys are not ready yet.
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Post by alexcorahomevideo on May 13, 2022 22:21:52 GMT -5
I think Bloom wants nothing to do with this roster. I am dying to know this off-season what the plan is. Does he believe in the prospects or does he have an eye on something else. To me the keys guys are not ready yet. I think we'll find out that while last year was good for us as fans it might have been a nightmare for Bloom. The offseason screamed bridge year and they over performed. Pushed the Sox back in the draft from where Bloom thought they would be and forced them to keep some players that they would have normally traded. |
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Post by alexcorahomevideo on May 13, 2022 22:23:01 GMT -5
That's fine, but they'll have to "splurge on a free agent" even if the free agent is Bogaerts. It's not a reason not to trade him in-season, if it comes to that.
(Are we convinced that Story to short is a "brutal" option? He's been good there his whole career.)
. Brutal because: a) he’s worse than X, so you lose that way and b) it leaves you with no 2b, and there are no attractive FAs there. So they’d *definitely* be worse for that. But Story because of his glove and contract is the "better value". I don't agree with it but thats the logic. |
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Post by dcsoxfan on May 13, 2022 22:45:08 GMT -5
Trading Eovaldi and Bogaerts for prospects and resigning them aren’t mutually exclusive.
While it is hard to imagine the Red Sox contending without these players, it should be equally hard to imagine them contending with these players without an infusion of cost-controlled talent. Resigning Bogaerts and Eovaldi to go along with Devers and Sale will give the Red Sox a core of maybe 20 WAR at a cost of $100 million. They’ll still need another 20 WAR to contend for a wild card snd about 30 WAR to contend for the division. While not unachievable, it will be hard given the Red Sox current dearth of cost controlled WAR.
The Red Sox biggest issue is their lack of cost-controlled talent. Players in their pre-free agency years make up something like 75% of all WAR. Teams need to have a balance between cost-controlled talent and free agent talent. To his credit Chaim Bloom has at least been trying to address this converting as many replaceable assets (2.0 WAR players should be replaceable assets for a team like the Red Sox) into potential future cost-controlled assets).
Trading Bogaerts and Eovaldi for prospects AND trying to resign them is also an option. It might be the best option.
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Post by notnickyorke on May 14, 2022 4:19:47 GMT -5
There are a lot of people reacting to the standings right now which is fair, but also look at the Red Sox only being 4.5 games out of a wildcard spot. That isn't that hard to make up if a few more players play up to their previous standards. Sure the AL East is tough, but if the season ended now the Blue Jays would get the last wild card spot. They are only one game over 500 and have a worse run differential then the Red Sox. Post season play not out of reach for this team yet. That being said, if they are still under 500 nearer to the trade deadline they should deal every asset they have that are unlikely to retain for the 2023 season (Bogarets, Martinez, Eovaldi, Wacha, Hill, Hernandez, Bradley, Strahm, Vasquez) for the best return possible. Sell off and give some of the younger players (Casas, Downs, Durran, Wong, Seabold, Winckowski, Fitzgerald) the playing time to see what we really have with them.
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Post by incandenza on May 14, 2022 7:30:47 GMT -5
Trading Eovaldi and Bogaerts for prospects and resigning them aren’t mutually exclusive. While it is hard to imagine the Red Sox contending without these players, it should be equally hard to imagine them contending with these players without an infusion of cost-controlled talent. Resigning Bogaerts and Eovaldi to go along with Devers and Sale will give the Red Sox a core of maybe 20 WAR at a cost of $100 million. They’ll still need another 20 WAR to contend for a wild card snd about 30 WAR to contend for the division. While not unachievable, it will be hard given the Red Sox current dearth of cost controlled WAR. The Red Sox biggest issue is their lack of cost-controlled talent. Players in their pre-free agency years make up something like 75% of all WAR. Teams need to have a balance between cost-controlled talent and free agent talent. To his credit Chaim Bloom has at least been trying to address this converting as many replaceable assets (2.0 WAR players should be replaceable assets for a team like the Red Sox) into potential future cost-controlled assets). Trading Bogaerts and Eovaldi for prospects AND trying to resign them is also an option. It might be the best option. That's pretty optimistic. Zips, for what it's worth, projects those four to combine for 13.6 WAR in 2023. (It's bearish on Sale, projecting only 82 IP, but honestly, can you blame it?) |
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Post by notstarboard on May 14, 2022 7:54:21 GMT -5
That's fine, but they'll have to "splurge on a free agent" even if the free agent is Bogaerts. It's not a reason not to trade him in-season, if it comes to that.
(Are we convinced that Story to short is a "brutal" option? He's been good there his whole career.)
. Brutal because: a) he’s worse than X, so you lose that way and b) it leaves you with no 2b, and there are no attractive FAs there. So they’d *definitely* be worse for that. Worse than X by what metric? Start to 2022? He's accumulated WAR at a higher rate than Xander for his career. Even if you limit the sample size to 2018-2021, since 2018 is when X started really raking, Story's accumulated about the same WAR as X. Iirc Xander looks a bit better by fWAR and Story looks a bit better by bWAR. Edit: Also there are decent internal options at 2B for 2023. Downs should be ready by then, for example, and he's been impressive this year. Arroyo has played well there when healthy. |
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Post by ematz1423 on May 14, 2022 8:16:54 GMT -5
. Brutal because: a) he’s worse than X, so you lose that way and b) it leaves you with no 2b, and there are no attractive FAs there. So they’d *definitely* be worse for that. Worse than X by what metric? Start to 2022? He's accumulated WAR at a higher rate than Xander for his career. Even if you limit the sample size to 2018-2021, since 2018 is when X started really raking, Story's accumulated about the same WAR as X. Iirc Xander looks a bit better by fWAR and Story looks a bit better by bWAR. Edit: Also there are decent internal options at 2B for 2023. Downs should be ready by then, for example, and he's been impressive this year. Arroyo has played well there when healthy. Well, Story did have probably his worst year last since becoming established and so far this year obviously on pace to have his worst so I think it's fair to wonder if he's starting a decline. It's still very early and he's been showing some signs of picking it up with the bat so overall I'm not worried on him yet. If you asked me who I think will be the more valuable player at SS for the next 3-4 years I'd say Xander though. I dont disagree that 2nd base has some fine looking internal options and that it'd certainly be cheaper to go find a FA to handle 2nd than to sign Xander if that is the plan. Which in my eyes I believe was their plan when they signed Story. I think Story will be the opening day SS next year if I had to guess. |
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Post by manfred on May 14, 2022 8:25:33 GMT -5
. Brutal because: a) he’s worse than X, so you lose that way and b) it leaves you with no 2b, and there are no attractive FAs there. So they’d *definitely* be worse for that. Worse than X by what metric? Start to 2022? He's accumulated WAR at a higher rate than Xander for his career. Even if you limit the sample size to 2018-2021, since 2018 is when X started really raking, Story's accumulated about the same WAR as X. Iirc Xander looks a bit better by fWAR and Story looks a bit better by bWAR. Edit: Also there are decent internal options at 2B for 2023. Downs should be ready by then, for example, and he's been impressive this year. Arroyo has played well there when healthy. Story has had an OPS+ over 125 once. It happened when he was 25. Since age 25, Xander has *averaged* an OPS+ of 134. Story has obviously put up better defensive numbers, so sure the defense would likely better (if his arm is sound). But if you take a team that has a top-heavy offense and remove its best player, well, it seems uncontroversial to say that leaves you weaker. And replacing Xander with Downs? Good lord. |
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Post by ematz1423 on May 14, 2022 8:30:25 GMT -5
Worse than X by what metric? Start to 2022? He's accumulated WAR at a higher rate than Xander for his career. Even if you limit the sample size to 2018-2021, since 2018 is when X started really raking, Story's accumulated about the same WAR as X. Iirc Xander looks a bit better by fWAR and Story looks a bit better by bWAR. Edit: Also there are decent internal options at 2B for 2023. Downs should be ready by then, for example, and he's been impressive this year. Arroyo has played well there when healthy. Story has gad an OPS+ over 125 once. It happened when he was 25. Since age 25, Xander has *averaged* an OPS+ of 134. Story gas obviously put up better defensive numbers, so sure the defense would likely better (if his arm is sound). But if you take a team that has a top-heavy offense and remove its best player, well, it seems uncontroversial to say that leaves you weaker. And replacing Xander with Downs? Good lord. I see what your point is, it's hard to sit here and say letting Xander go and replacing him at SS with Story and signing a FA or going with downs wouldn't make the team weaker. They certainly can't replace xandys bat with one guy. However if Bloom took the money from Xander and used it to fill 2-3 other holes and made the team more well rounded you can start to make an argument the team could improve. He'd have to hit on the correct 2-3 players first though. Don't get me wrong it's not the route I want them to go in, I want Xander on the sox till he retires I'm just trying to play a little devils advocate. |
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Post by notstarboard on May 14, 2022 12:00:59 GMT -5
Worse than X by what metric? Start to 2022? He's accumulated WAR at a higher rate than Xander for his career. Even if you limit the sample size to 2018-2021, since 2018 is when X started really raking, Story's accumulated about the same WAR as X. Iirc Xander looks a bit better by fWAR and Story looks a bit better by bWAR. Edit: Also there are decent internal options at 2B for 2023. Downs should be ready by then, for example, and he's been impressive this year. Arroyo has played well there when healthy. Story has had an OPS+ over 125 once. It happened when he was 25. Since age 25, Xander has *averaged* an OPS+ of 134. Story has obviously put up better defensive numbers, so sure the defense would likely better (if his arm is sound). But if you take a team that has a top-heavy offense and remove its best player, well, it seems uncontroversial to say that leaves you weaker. And replacing Xander with Downs? Good lord. I don't have the same worry about the offense, or about a player like Downs joining the middle infield. A lineup is nine players, so losing offensive production up the middle doesn't necessarily imply the offense getting weaker, especially when you consider than Xander might be making $30 million / year while Downs will be making the league minimum. That cash can and should be reinvested back into the team. Perhaps we go after a slugging corner OF and a JD replacement to beef the middle of the order back up, for example. Story and Downs would be a better defensive pairing than Story and Xander too, Casas is supposedly a good fielder, and Raffy has been much improved this year. We could have a heck of a defensive infield next year if Xander leaves. They should hit reasonably well too. |
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Post by orcoaster on May 14, 2022 13:52:37 GMT -5
There are a lot of people reacting to the standings right now which is fair, but also look at the Red Sox only being 4.5 games out of a wildcard spot. That isn't that hard to make up if a few more players play up to their previous standards. Sure the AL East is tough, but if the season ended now the Blue Jays would get the last wild card spot. They are only one game over 500 and have a worse run differential then the Red Sox. Post season play not out of reach for this team yet. That being said, if they are still under 500 nearer to the trade deadline they should deal every asset they have that are unlikely to retain for the 2023 season (Bogarets, Martinez, Eovaldi, Wacha, Hill, Hernandez, Bradley, Strahm, Vasquez) for the best return possible. Sell off and give some of the younger players (Casas, Downs, Durran, Wong, Seabold, Winckowski, Fitzgerald) the playing time to see what we really have with them. This post needs some love. First off, people need to step back from the ledge and take a breath. With the expanded playoffs, the Red Sox are most definitely in the playoff hunt. Fangraphs gives them a 20.7% chance of making the playoffs. Those are far better odds than they had in 04 against the Yankees. This is the equivalent of being down 4-0 after two innings. There is a lot of baseball left to play. Second, this team probably over-performed last year. It's probably under-performing now. You're never as good as you are when you're going good; you're never as bad as you are when you're going bad. Odds are high that the team will start playing better. Shoot, they are 2-0 with one rob-job since Cora shaved. Things are looking up. IMO, they are two players away from the playoff roster -- a big RH RF bat, and a back of the bullpen arm. The first will have to come via a Schwarber-like trade. The second, I believe, could be Chris Sale. He came up as a reliever. He has the skill set and intensity for it. The demand on his arm may actually be less than starting. If Sale can reinvent himself a la Dennis Eckersley, the rest of the staff falls into place. Once you're in the playoffs -- anything can happen. To paraphrase Kevin Millar, don't let us win our way back in. However, things may not turn around enough by the trade deadline, and NNY is correct: there are at least twelve players to potentially flip. (I'd add JD Martinez, Diekman, and Barnes to his list.) Several things I think I know about the team's management gives me an inkling of how they may proceed. We learned from Trevor Story that this team has money and is willing to spend it. We learned from Mookie Betts that if a player wants to leave, no amount of money will keep him. Nathan Eovaldi, Xander Bogaerts, and Rafael Devers all want to stay with the Boston Red Sox. We also know Bogaerts, who has been outstanding defensively this season, is willing to move off SS about the time Marcelo Mayer is ready. But for an outrageous outside offer, there's a more than likely chance all three are re-signed. Selling off the other fungible assets when all hope is lost will likely happen, but only at the deadline and only if the return is good. In CBloom's book, good means above market value. There's no one on the list the team should feel urgency to dump as I believe management expects the team to be competitive every season, and each of those players could have a role next year. The exception to that would be JD. He surely has a few productive years remaining, but he is not what he was, and he doesn't look like the kind of player the team wants or needs to extend. Because he's on a short contract and will have a strong market among playoff contenders, I think Martinez is the most likely player to be flipped at the deadline if the team is truly out of contention. But we are far from that point at the moment. |
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