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Post by nonothing on Jun 20, 2024 8:04:44 GMT -5
The team is unimprovable. Christian Walker? Like scottysmalls says, he'd scarcely improve on the options they already have, and he probably won't be available anyway. Luzardo? He's been worse than Criswell this season and wouldn't obviously be one of their best 5 starting options next season (especially after they add Fried or Burnes). The bullpen? I doubt there will be anyone available on the trade market that I'd see as a marked improvement over Zack Kelly, who's like their 5th or 6th guy on the depth chart right now. A RH corner infield bat? Would be nice, but hardly a dire need once Casas gets back, and I don't think there's anyone good available anyways. They should trade for no one because there is no one available who would make them better. I would never say a team is unimprovable. But the points other than that I agree with. The question is probably more whether they believe there are more under the radar moves that could be made that pay major dividends in a playoff race. I haven't thought it through myself, but I am sure they are out there.
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Post by scottysmalls on Jun 20, 2024 8:11:23 GMT -5
There could be some pitcher swapping that makes sense. Move Pivetta out bring in someone with more control (Crochet, Fedde the most obvious candidates)
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Post by nonothing on Jun 20, 2024 8:11:55 GMT -5
“The bullpen? I doubt there will be anyone available on the trade market that I'd see as a marked improvement over Zack Kelly, who's like their 5th or 6th guy on the depth chart right now.” — Think we can make an upgrade over Chase Anderson and Brad Keller? I think that you can definitely find improvements on those guys. They're fringe rosterable guys at the back end of the bullpen. I think the point is that upgrading those guys isn't going to make a big overall impact on the team. Those are players that you throw in during blowouts (good or bad). The bullpen that we actually care about-the high leverage guys and the guys that will pitch meaningful innings during a potential playoff run-those are the guys where you aren't going to see real meaningful upgrades on. One of those guys at least would be gone for Campbell or Winckowski by playoffs if all are healthy though. I don't think the pen, C, OF or 3B are the major focus. As others have said. SP and SS are the major question marks, as is 1B if Casas does not come back healthy. 2B is coverable by the guys we have today, even if that's a SS sliding over to 2B. But it is now going to be tough for the Sox to be sure of Casas' health by the deadline, which is a real consideration that last week or so going into the deadline. I really think the deadline should have been in August, even if only mid-August, once the waiver-game deadline was eliminated. That was a time you used to be able to add a vet for an injured guy, and now you can't after late July. It makes depth at AAA more important. We could always try Kavadas if needed. I don't know enough to reject whether he will hit any more in MLB than Dalbec, though he can certainly take a walk.
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asm18
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Post by asm18 on Jun 20, 2024 8:12:12 GMT -5
Optimal “Healthy” Lineup (with what they have internally)
C: Wong 1B: Casas 2B: Hamilton (or Valdez/Grissom?) SS: Ceddanne (or Hamilton) 3B: Devers LF: O’Neill (or Duran) CF: Duran (or Ceddanne) RF: Abreu (or O’Neill/Rob) DH: Yoshida (or O’Neill/Rob)
C - Reese 2B- Valdez/Grissom OF - Rob Refsnyder UT - Romy
Was kinda wondering the other day about a O’Neill/Ha-Seong Kim swap which allow you to move Ceddanne fulltime to CF and Hamilton could move to 2B, but I’m just not sure that’s realistic. You can always make moves around the margins but I do really like much of the position group as constituted (and that’s not even considering possible cameos by Teel, Mayer…)
If they can find another bat they like, cool. But I want more pitching depth
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Post by incandenza on Jun 20, 2024 8:14:50 GMT -5
“The bullpen? I doubt there will be anyone available on the trade market that I'd see as a marked improvement over Zack Kelly, who's like their 5th or 6th guy on the depth chart right now.” — Think we can make an upgrade over Chase Anderson and Brad Keller? How much value do you want to give up to improve on guys who only come into low leverage mop-up situations? For me the answer is ~0. I generally find this reasonable but think they could use one more solid starting pitcher. If everyone stays healthy they may be okay, but we can't really expect everyone to stay healthy. Whitlock and Giolito are missed but if another starter goes down or innings need to be managed down the stretch, one more quality starter will be quite useful. Perhaps that could have been Perales. Perhaps it can be Winck or Fitts but it seems like an area they can reinforce and improve on... If another starter goes down before the trade deadline then yeah, things change. Otherwise any addition would have to be clearly better than Criswell to be worth it. Who would that be? Crochet, but I don't see them getting him without giving up one of the big three. Unless it's a top line starter I don't want anyone who would clog up the roster after this season since they already have Houck/Crawford/Bello/Whitlock/Giolito next season and they should also add a free agent, preferably Burnes or Fried.
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Post by nonothing on Jun 20, 2024 8:16:12 GMT -5
Optimal “Healthy” Lineup (with what they have internally) C: Wong 1B: Casas 2B: Hamilton (or Valdez/Grissom?) SS: Ceddanne (or Hamilton) 3B: Devers LF: O’Neill (or Duran) CF: Duran (or Ceddanne) RF: Abreu (or O’Neill/Rob) DH: Yoshida (or O’Neill/Rob) C - Reese 2B- Valdez/Grissom OF - Rob Refsnyder UT - Romy Was kinda wondering the other day about a O’Neill/Ha-Seong Kim swap which allow you to move Ceddanne fulltime to CF and Hamilton could move to 2B, but I’m just not sure that’s realistic. You can always make moves around the margins but I do really like much of the position group as constituted (and that’s not even considering possible cameos by Teel, Mayer…) If they can find another bat they like, cool. But I want more pitching depth I really think Mayer is not close. There is no way I would even promote him to AAA at this point. He cannot succeed in MLB without improving his hitting against lefties. I do not see him as a present upgrade over the players we currently have.
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Post by Addam603 on Jun 20, 2024 8:19:49 GMT -5
It's a very conservative thought process, but in order to get a top-of-the-line starter at the deadline, you're probably going to need to overpay. There are teams that are more in contention that are going to be more desperate for starting pitching and are likely going to outbid the Sox on any aces or front of the line potential pitchers. If, say, the Sox and the Mariners (for example) are both after the same pitcher, that pitcher is more likely to push them over the top than us. You need to take the big swings eventually, but I don't think that's where the Sox are right now.
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Post by incandenza on Jun 20, 2024 8:22:41 GMT -5
There could be some pitcher swapping that makes sense. Move Pivetta out bring in someone with more control (Crochet, Fedde the most obvious candidates) That's an intriguing idea. I do think if they're significantly active it'll take the form of some lateral adding + subtracting moves.
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asm18
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Post by asm18 on Jun 20, 2024 8:29:30 GMT -5
If another starter goes down before the trade deadline then yeah, things change. Otherwise any addition would have to be clearly better than Criswell to be worth it. Who would that be? Crochet, but I don't see them getting him without giving up one of the big three. Unless it's a top line starter I don't want anyone who would clog up the roster after this season since they already have Houck/Crawford/Bello/Whitlock/Giolito next season and they should also add a free agent, preferably Burnes or Fried. I mean the last two of those guys are coming back from Tommy John (brace procedure). Whitlock we all get the whole “should he start or be in the pen” debate - we don’t have to rehash it. And Giolito has been pretty mediocre the last two years even BEFORE getting hurt. I just don’t see those guys being an impediment to getting a Big Dog in December if the rotation is supposedly full. Like I can’t imagine being like, “Well, John Henry was giving us the go-ahead to call Corbin Burnes, but then what’s Lucas supposed to do?” Giolito next year has a 1/19 mil player option I believe? If he wants a guaranteed rotation spot somewhere he’s allowed to opt out. He won’t… but he can. Even if you get an Eric Fedde/Quantril/Blackburn type guy - someone with 1.5 years of control - you can always flip them in the off-season.
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Post by incandenza on Jun 20, 2024 8:55:04 GMT -5
If another starter goes down before the trade deadline then yeah, things change. Otherwise any addition would have to be clearly better than Criswell to be worth it. Who would that be? Crochet, but I don't see them getting him without giving up one of the big three. Unless it's a top line starter I don't want anyone who would clog up the roster after this season since they already have Houck/Crawford/Bello/Whitlock/Giolito next season and they should also add a free agent, preferably Burnes or Fried. I mean the last two of those guys are coming back from Tommy John (brace procedure). Whitlock we all get the whole “should he start or be in the pen” debate - we don’t have to rehash it. And Giolito has been pretty mediocre the last two years even BEFORE getting hurt. I just don’t see those guys being an impediment to getting a Big Dog in December if the rotation is supposedly full. Like I can’t imagine being like, “Well, John Henry was giving us the go-ahead to call Corbin Burnes, but then what’s Lucas supposed to do?” Giolito next year has a 1/19 mil player option I believe? If he wants a guaranteed rotation spot somewhere he’s allowed to opt out. He won’t… but he can. Even if you get an Eric Fedde/Quantril/Blackburn type guy - someone with 1.5 years of control - you can always flip them in the off-season. Ain't that what I said? They should add a Burnes or a Fried. But then on top of that they have Houck, Bello, Crawford, Giolito, Whitlock, and Criswell. We'd be at 7 starters already before getting into depth options like Fitts and Winckowski. Do Fedde/Quantrill/Blackburn improve on at least three of those options?
I especially don't see the appeal of Quantrill or Blackburn. I'd easily take Criswell over them now, let alone Giolito.
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asm18
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Post by asm18 on Jun 20, 2024 9:06:55 GMT -5
[They should add a Burnes or a Fried. But then on top of that they have Houck, Bello, Crawford, Giolito, Whitlock, and Criswell. We'd be at 7 starters already before getting into depth options like Fitts and Winckowski. Do Fedde/Quantrill/Blackburn improve on at least three of those options? [/div]
Fedde for sure the way he’s pitched this year would definitely be an upgrade over a couple of those dudes. Criswell has been solid - although perhaps they don’t feel as sanguine about him if they are sending him down to chill in Worcester for a few weeks. (I know that’s because they have off-days they can work with for a 4 man rotation, but they didn’t HAVE to do it…)
I get what you’re saying, but just me personally I would rather just get the extra arm and figure it out later. But maybe that’s just PTSD from last year when they were doing bullpen games twice a week and they never got another starter, and Jordan Montgomery was just sitting there.
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mobaz
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Post by mobaz on Jun 20, 2024 9:09:50 GMT -5
The team is unimprovable. Christian Walker? Like scottysmalls says, he'd scarcely improve on the options they already have, and he probably won't be available anyway. Luzardo? He's been worse than Criswell this season and wouldn't obviously be one of their best 5 starting options next season (especially after they add Fried or Burnes). The bullpen? I doubt there will be anyone available on the trade market that I'd see as a marked improvement over Zack Kelly, who's like their 5th or 6th guy on the depth chart right now. A RH corner infield bat? Would be nice, but hardly a dire need once Casas gets back, and I don't think there's anyone good available anyways. They should trade for no one because there is no one available who would make them better. I generally find this reasonable but think they could use one more solid starting pitcher. If everyone stays healthy they may be okay, but we can't really expect everyone to stay healthy. Whitlock and Giolito are missed but if another starter goes down or innings need to be managed down the stretch, one more quality starter will be quite useful. Perhaps that could have been Perales. Perhaps it can be Winck or Fitts but it seems like an area they can reinforce and improve on... I agree it's hard to improve a Pretty Good Everywhere team, but also agree another Major League starting pitcher would be beneficial. Bullpen, I'd be open to try but doubt you need to.
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Post by badballhitter on Jun 20, 2024 9:25:11 GMT -5
I mean the last two of those guys are coming back from Tommy John (brace procedure). Whitlock we all get the whole “should he start or be in the pen” debate - we don’t have to rehash it. And Giolito has been pretty mediocre the last two years even BEFORE getting hurt. I just don’t see those guys being an impediment to getting a Big Dog in December if the rotation is supposedly full. Like I can’t imagine being like, “Well, John Henry was giving us the go-ahead to call Corbin Burnes, but then what’s Lucas supposed to do?” Giolito next year has a 1/19 mil player option I believe? If he wants a guaranteed rotation spot somewhere he’s allowed to opt out. He won’t… but he can. Even if you get an Eric Fedde/Quantril/Blackburn type guy - someone with 1.5 years of control - you can always flip them in the off-season. Ain't that what I said? They should add a Burnes or a Fried. But then on top of that they have Houck, Bello, Crawford, Giolito, Whitlock, and Criswell. We'd be at 7 starters already before getting into depth options like Fitts and Winckowski. Do Fedde/Quantrill/Blackburn improve on at least three of those options?
I especially don't see the appeal of Quantrill or Blackburn. I'd easily take Criswell over them now, let alone Giolito.
They just demoted Criswell in exchange for nobody, at least nobody who starts. If they can acquire somebody who is better than nobody that would be an improvement, right? : ) I kid, but I do think a starter is the only obvious place where they could use a significant upgrade (assuming Casas gets healthy). I differ a little and think there's a wide range of viable targets, doesn't have to be an ace imo.
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Post by scottysmalls on Jun 20, 2024 9:25:18 GMT -5
It's a very conservative thought process, but in order to get a top-of-the-line starter at the deadline, you're probably going to need to overpay. There are teams that are more in contention that are going to be more desperate for starting pitching and are likely going to outbid the Sox on any aces or front of the line potential pitchers. If, say, the Sox and the Mariners (for example) are both after the same pitcher, that pitcher is more likely to push them over the top than us. You need to take the big swings eventually, but I don't think that's where the Sox are right now. Eh, the thing is let's say Crochet does get moved - If now is the opportunity to get him then now is the opportunity. The Red Sox can't just ask the White Sox to wait and we don't know the next time a pitcher of that caliber with control will be available. There are no obvious elite position players to be acquired by trade in the next year, no other obvious pitchers. You don't always get to decide when the pitch comes. I'd also push back on the over the top thing, because the biggest jump is from not making the playoffs to making it, and if he puts the Red Sox over that ledge then they're in the game. And I wouldn't want to face a team with Houck/Crochet/Crawford to throw at you.
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ematz1423
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Post by ematz1423 on Jun 20, 2024 9:31:04 GMT -5
The thing people might be forgetting in regards to Crochet. He's at 88 IP as of today, his previous career max is 54 so he's probably not a guy you want going past like 120 IP or so. Therefore in my mind if you trade for him at the deadline you really aren't getting an SP for the stretch run.
You'd be getting a great lefty reliever for the rest of the season and he does have two more years of arb so it's not like there is no reason to trade for him but I don't think he helps for 2024 all that much.
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Post by puzzler on Jun 20, 2024 9:38:24 GMT -5
I'm surprised anyone can say with a straight face that this team cannot be improved. This team is currently running a 4 man rotation for the next 14 days and the 5th guy they sent down was Cooper Criswell who has been very good - but who's best role is probably as a long relief option out of the pen. Not only that, but Crawford, Houck, and Bello are all going to be hitting career highs in innings pitched assuming health, so it isn't as if they should expect them to be their best come September. They could also improve the bullpen. Anderson/Keller/Booser are not great/sure things. Slaten is going to have thrown a TON of innings. Kelly has been great lately, but not an established dominant reliever. Martin just came back from anxiety and hasn't been as good. Weissert has been hit or miss. Not only are a some of these guys expendable, but a bunch of them have options too. If this team is in the playoff race by 7/14 and doesn't trade for a starter and at least one reliever, it's flat out malpractice. They don't have to make huge deals or trade big time prospects, but they do need to make moves.
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Post by scottysmalls on Jun 20, 2024 10:34:11 GMT -5
The thing people might be forgetting in regards to Crochet. He's at 88 IP as of today, his previous career max is 54 so he's probably not a guy you want going past like 120 IP or so. Therefore in my mind if you trade for him at the deadline you really aren't getting an SP for the stretch run. You'd be getting a great lefty reliever for the rest of the season and he does have two more years of arb so it's not like there is no reason to trade for him but I don't think he helps for 2024 all that much. Is there any evidence that innings can't scale like that? I know that's the commonly accepted practice. But is it possible it just doesn't matter? Another approach might be - a guy has so many innings on his elbow with the way he throws, get them when they count. I'm not arguing one way or another but just throwing that out.
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ematz1423
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Post by ematz1423 on Jun 20, 2024 10:39:46 GMT -5
The thing people might be forgetting in regards to Crochet. He's at 88 IP as of today, his previous career max is 54 so he's probably not a guy you want going past like 120 IP or so. Therefore in my mind if you trade for him at the deadline you really aren't getting an SP for the stretch run. You'd be getting a great lefty reliever for the rest of the season and he does have two more years of arb so it's not like there is no reason to trade for him but I don't think he helps for 2024 all that much. Is there any evidence that innings can't scale like that? I know that's the commonly accepted practice. But is it possible it just doesn't matter? Another approach might be - a guy has so many innings on his elbow with the way he throws, get them when they count. I'm not arguing one way or another but just throwing that out. Correct, I'm just going off of it being the generally accepted practice is all. I suppose just because it isn't done much if at all doesn't mean it can't be done. I could certainly see a scenario where a team trades for Crochet and just goes on a start to start basis with him to monitor how he's feeling. He very well could get through the next few months and feel strong enough to continue starting, I just wouldn't bet on it since it is probably the generally accepted practice for a reason.
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Post by incandenza on Jun 20, 2024 10:44:11 GMT -5
I'm surprised anyone can say with a straight face that this team cannot be improved. This team is currently running a 4 man rotation for the next 14 days and the 5th guy they sent down was Cooper Criswell who has been very good - but who's best role is probably as a long relief option out of the pen. Not only that, but Crawford, Houck, and Bello are all going to be hitting career highs in innings pitched assuming health, so it isn't as if they should expect them to be their best come September. They could also improve the bullpen. Anderson/Keller/Booser are not great/sure things. Slaten is going to have thrown a TON of innings. Kelly has been great lately, but not an established dominant reliever. Martin just came back from anxiety and hasn't been as good. Weissert has been hit or miss. Not only are a some of these guys expendable, but a bunch of them have options too. If this team is in the playoff race by 7/14 and doesn't trade for a starter and at least one reliever, it's flat out malpractice. They don't have to make huge deals or trade big time prospects, but they do need to make moves. You make it sound like Criswell is a AAAA type or something, but they're only sending him down because of the off days and to keep the bullpen full and stuff. He is in the top 55 out of 134 MLB starters (min. 50 IP) in all of xERA, FIP, and xFIP. He's a #3 starter. Prove me wrong.
As for the innings loads on Crawford, Houck, and Bello, I will say that I would be into the idea of a 6-man rotation to try to give pitchers more rest. But the Red Sox don't seem to like to do that (see above: they're even ditching the 5-man rotation opportunistically just for the sake of the greater bullpen depth). And if they're not going to do that I don't know how adding another starter is going to help them manage innings. Unless you're suggesting they trade for a starter in order to phantom DL their other starters to get them some extra rest. If that's the idea then I really don't think the marginal value of that would be worth whatever the prospect cost of such a trade would be.
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Post by itinerantherb on Jun 20, 2024 10:48:40 GMT -5
The closest thing to a "need" is starting pitching depth. It looks like they're thinking of Winckowski for that role but if things continue to trend up, I won't be surprised if they add someone. An impact starter with significant years of control seems less likely but possible.
I agree that whatever upgrade they could make at SS probably isn't worth it. (DeJong, for example, is fine but if I had to bet on it, I'd bet that Hamilton will be more valuable the rest of the season.)
I do wonder if they might try to move Yoshida. If he finds his groove over the next month, he could be a useful bat for a team in the playoff chase. I'm sure they'd like to be rid of the contract and clear the roster space; plus it gives them room to become a little more right handed.
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Post by itinerantherb on Jun 20, 2024 11:06:40 GMT -5
I'm surprised anyone can say with a straight face that this team cannot be improved. This team is currently running a 4 man rotation for the next 14 days and the 5th guy they sent down was Cooper Criswell who has been very good - but who's best role is probably as a long relief option out of the pen. Not only that, but Crawford, Houck, and Bello are all going to be hitting career highs in innings pitched assuming health, so it isn't as if they should expect them to be their best come September. They could also improve the bullpen. Anderson/Keller/Booser are not great/sure things. Slaten is going to have thrown a TON of innings. Kelly has been great lately, but not an established dominant reliever. Martin just came back from anxiety and hasn't been as good. Weissert has been hit or miss. Not only are a some of these guys expendable, but a bunch of them have options too. If this team is in the playoff race by 7/14 and doesn't trade for a starter and at least one reliever, it's flat out malpractice. They don't have to make huge deals or trade big time prospects, but they do need to make moves. You make it sound like Criswell is a AAAA type or something, but they're only sending him down because of the off days and to keep the bullpen full and stuff. He is in the top 55 out of 134 MLB starters (min. 50 IP) in all of xERA, FIP, and xFIP. He's a #3 starter. Prove me wrong.
As for the innings loads on Crawford, Houck, and Bello, I will say that I would be into the idea of a 6-man rotation to try to give pitchers more rest. But the Red Sox don't seem to like to do that (see above: they're even ditching the 5-man rotation opportunistically just for the sake of the greater bullpen depth). And if they're not going to do that I don't know how adding another starter is going to help them manage innings. Unless you're suggesting they trade for a starter in order to phantom DL their other starters to get them some extra rest. If that's the idea then I really don't think the marginal value of that would be worth whatever the prospect cost of such a trade would be. Feeling feisty this morning? ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png)
Criswell has been great as a fill-in starter--much better than I expected. Acquiring him has to be counted a great success and I'm glad they have him under control for three more years after this one. Clearly, a very useful major league pitcher. But to this point, he's not a #3 starter for the simple reason that he consistently, predictably, doesn't pitch deep enough into games. You're "min. 50 IP" is doing a lot of work here.
Innings/start: Bello: 5.3 Pivetta: 5.3 Crawford: 5.8 Houck: 6.4 Criswell: 4.5
He's gone less than 5 innings in five of his eleven starts. His longest outing of the year is 5.1. He's a great fifth starter, but given the bullpen support that he's needed, at this point he's not more than that.
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Post by puzzler on Jun 20, 2024 11:09:29 GMT -5
I'm surprised anyone can say with a straight face that this team cannot be improved. This team is currently running a 4 man rotation for the next 14 days and the 5th guy they sent down was Cooper Criswell who has been very good - but who's best role is probably as a long relief option out of the pen. Not only that, but Crawford, Houck, and Bello are all going to be hitting career highs in innings pitched assuming health, so it isn't as if they should expect them to be their best come September. They could also improve the bullpen. Anderson/Keller/Booser are not great/sure things. Slaten is going to have thrown a TON of innings. Kelly has been great lately, but not an established dominant reliever. Martin just came back from anxiety and hasn't been as good. Weissert has been hit or miss. Not only are a some of these guys expendable, but a bunch of them have options too. If this team is in the playoff race by 7/14 and doesn't trade for a starter and at least one reliever, it's flat out malpractice. They don't have to make huge deals or trade big time prospects, but they do need to make moves. You make it sound like Criswell is a AAAA type or something, but they're only sending him down because of the off days and to keep the bullpen full and stuff. He is in the top 55 out of 134 MLB starters (min. 50 IP) in all of xERA, FIP, and xFIP. He's a #3 starter. Prove me wrong.
As for the innings loads on Crawford, Houck, and Bello, I will say that I would be into the idea of a 6-man rotation to try to give pitchers more rest. But the Red Sox don't seem to like to do that (see above: they're even ditching the 5-man rotation opportunistically just for the sake of the greater bullpen depth). And if they're not going to do that I don't know how adding another starter is going to help them manage innings. Unless you're suggesting they trade for a starter in order to phantom DL their other starters to get them some extra rest. If that's the idea then I really don't think the marginal value of that would be worth whatever the prospect cost of such a trade would be. I didn't say that at all - I said his best role is probably as a long relief option out of the pen. I'm not trying to argue that he hasn't been good/effective. But my counter argument is that he has thrown less than 50 innings in 11 starts. He's getting to 5 innings about 60% of the time and getting through 5 innings about 50% of the time. He's fine as a 5th starter, but his best role on this team would be as a long reliever out of the bullpen. That's more true if you have an another effective starter to take over at number 5, which is exactly what I was advocating. As far as managing innings - you can't make Crawford or Houck or Bello pitch better by adding another starter - but you can mitigate any issues with effectiveness, by being better in the bullpen and with your added starter. So replacing Anderson with Criswell and adding a decent starter seems like a no brainer to me. And you get an added benefit of taking some of the strain off of Slaten, Kelly, Weissert, etc who are all now starting to throw a ton of innings.
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Post by Guidas on Jun 20, 2024 11:22:27 GMT -5
There could be some pitcher swapping that makes sense. Move Pivetta out bring in someone with more control (Crochet, Fedde the most obvious candidates) That's an intriguing idea. I do think if they're significantly active it'll take the form of some lateral adding + subtracting moves. Crochet is going to be one of the big prizes at the deadline. But remember, as good as he's been pitching he has been oft-injured throughout his career. His arm may be held together at this point with spit and gorilla glue.
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asm18
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Post by asm18 on Jun 20, 2024 11:23:20 GMT -5
I do wonder if they might try to move Yoshida. If he finds his groove over the next month, he could be a useful bat for a team in the playoff chase. I'm sure they'd like to be rid of the contract and clear the roster space; plus it gives them room to become a little more right handed. At the moment I don’t know that there’s an urgency to move him, as I’m not sure he really blocks up the roster as much as one might expect. Bobby probably goes down when Abreu comes back, Dom DFA’d when Casas returns, and Vaughn Grissom (reminder - youngest guy on the team!) might honestly got a reset in AAA when or if he ever recovers from his maladies. In the short term there’s probably more awkwardness of managing at-bats between Yoshida and O’Neill/Duran/Abreu alongside Rafaela/Valdez/Hamilton, but it’s not like they haven’t dealt with this before. In 2021 they had a dance of who to play/sit between JD/Schwarber/Renfroe/Verdugo & Dalbec. That’s the coaching staff’s problem to worry about In terms of trade return for Masa… are we talking like a Hosmer deal? Padres ate 44 mil, also sent over a few other dudes, and all they got was Jay Groome. (Admittedly Hosmer had a no-trade clause and the Padres were scrambling to get rid of him to facilitate the first Soto trade.) Yoshida makes 55 mil the next three years. Yoshida probably projects to be a better hitter, but Hosmer could play 1st base. Both low strike out guys without huge power. If even by eating all his money you’re not getting back much, would rather just play out the year, hope Masa gets hot and figure things out in the winter. It’s a weird situation.
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Post by incandenza on Jun 20, 2024 11:30:11 GMT -5
Okay I have been convinced that the Red Sox are not literally unimprovable. So who are the trade targets who would be an upgrade on Criswell? I've got:
Crochet Fedde maaaybe Flaherty Kikuchi if the Blue Jays fall out of it? Eflin if the Rays fall out of it?
I guess there are some interesting possibilities if the Rangers become deadline sellers. I could talk myself into deGrom being an upgrade on Criswell. Ugly contract though...
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