The Red Sox like Tyson Ross quite a bit and have been operating “very quietly” in the trade market for starting pitching, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter). Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Red Sox have talked to the Padres, with Ross as one possible target, though he notes that they also have the prospect depth to expand a deal to include Craig Kimbrel.
Ross’ name is one of the most popular on the trade market, with many expecting the Padres to aggressively market a number of players today (Ross and Kimbrel included). Boston’s priority has long been said to be to acquire controllable pitching, and Ross, who isn’t eligible for free agency until after the 2017 season, would fit that mold to an extent.
The 28-year-old Ross is not yet arbitration eligible and has worked to a 3.07 ERA with 9.1 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 and a ground-ball rate near 60 percent over the past three seasons with the Padres. He’s also drawn interest from the Astros, Cubs and many other teams.
Kyle Cotton
GO HOME BOSTON!! your drunk!
Seriously, its making moves like this that got the Red Sox in their current situation to begin with. The window is closed and its time to start building the system for the next generation of players.
311creature
*You’re
Kyle Cotton
Sorry, I’m coming off a 24 HR shift, because someone couldn’t show up on time.
bruinsfan94 2
They can’t really build up the system more then they have….There was no window..The rebuilding started after 2012 but then 2013 happened. They are preparing for sustined success starting in 2017.
They already have the start of the young core in the MLB
Erod
Swihart
Betts
Bogarts
Castillo
In the Minors they have:
Moncada
Devers
Ownens
Benintendi
Margot
Light
Esponinsa
Ball
Charvis
Plus more. Ross is under team control for a few years.
Ken M.
Mateo and Refsnyder will trump any package the Sox think about throwing out there.
FrankRoo
Is what universe is Refsnyder that valuable of a trade chip.
Ken M.
riveraveblues.com/2015/07/sabathia-roughed-bullpen…
This one.
justinept
I don’t get the buzz around Mateo. He’s a .275 hitter in Low A. He wasn’t a big-time signing. He’s not a top prospect. He’s just a guy who happens to be the best SS in the Yankees system. And because of that, people think he’ll be great? Geez…
The Dodgers and Cubs have been heavily linked to Ross and both teams have TWO minor league shortstop options that grade out significantly better than Mateo – Seager/Peraza for the Dodgers and Baez/Torres for the Cubs.
But for the sake of this comment – Mateo and Refsnyder … if the Red Sox wanted to top that, they could do it in a heart beat. Moncada and Guerra would make a significantly better 2B/SS package.
justinept
Two guy who have never been top 100 prospects… That’s all I see with Mateo and Refsnyder. Do they have some value? Sure. But they’re just average prospects, nothing more.
stl_cards16 2
I think he has value, but linking to a Yankee Blog is not presenting evidence.
Meow Meow
Ah yes, in the NYY homer universe.
bruinsfan94 2
Did you just reference a comment on another site? That’s worse then Wikipedia. Mateo is a decent prospect but Refsnyder is not. The Red Sox could beat that trade 50 different ways.
Draven Moss
I like him. I just wish his road splits were better for his career.
MB923
Wow. That would be huge
@kyle , the situation that got Boston where it is was signing Rick Porcello to a 4 year/$80 million extension before throwing a single pitch for them, and, assuming Hanley Ramirez could play LF
That in addition to Not going after any good SP and assuming they can roll a season out with #3/#4 SP. Ross is not just a good SP, but a very good one.
Kyle Cotton
Yes and trading away players for big names that didn’t work out, only to be moved a year or two later when it didn’t work.
GoAwayNow
Trading for good pitching won them 2 world series. See Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, and Josh Beckett. Fearing trades is not the answer.
lamars
Name me one player that was traded away for a big name player. That the Sox regret trading or made a mistake in trading for?
MB923
Please ignore trade proposals from Sloth.
mookiessnarl
I’m not sure if he’s trolling or delusional.
jmdjr1966
They gave 80 million to Porcello for 4 years. I just realized that debacle. They just don’t get it. That’s like paying me a million a year to sit on their bench and collect towels for them. I wouldn’t pay Matt Harvey 20 million a year (as a Mets fan) until he has three plus years of success. Porcello had two good years in Detroit. Nothing earth shattering but decent. Not an ace guy and not worth ace money. Five million a yaer was what he is worth as a back of the rotation starter.
mookiessnarl
5 million a year would get you a 6th inning relief guy at this point. There’s not a single free agent starter who would sign for as little as that.
phillyphanatics
The Padres will not get as much for their guys as they think – they are underperforming as a group, which is why Preller wants to change course, but with that underperformance comes discounted return.
I think that’s why they’ve consummated nothing yet – other than Upton, everyone else is under contract and they may choose to stand pat more than anyone on here thinks, and give it another shot next year.
Ask Marlins fans (if there even are any left) how it feels to follow a team that keep zigging and zagging every 5 months with a new strategy…
justinept
The Padres need to decide on a course of action before making any moves. Do they want to shed salary or do they want to acquire prospects. There’s no question their players have value, but the Phillies couldn’t even get back top prospects for Cole Hamels without agreeing to take back Matt Harrison’s contract…
That’s why you’re seeing such varying offers for guys like Kimbrel. The Yankees are saying they’ll take on the salary, but they won’t give back anyone of value. The Cubs are saying they’ll give back players of value IF the Padres off-set some of that money by taking back Castro. The Padres seem to want it both ways. Unfortunately for them, acquiring prospects while shedding the totality of a player’s contract is pretty rare in today’s game.
Ken M.
@MB923 I’m not ALONE!
riveraveblues.com/2015/07/sabathia-roughed-bullpen…
MB923
Sloth, Mike Axisa on RAB is very smart, and while Ref is a good hitter and Mateo a good SS with great speed, Boston can still triumph that.
Ken M.
MB, link wasn’t to Axisa.
goincoastal 2
@MB923 good measured response. Thanks for being a rational, reasonable Yanks fan! As a Sox fan, these are the deals they should be making. I think the Porcello deal was a knee-jerk reaction to the fallout of not signing Lester. The natives were growing restless that we hadn’t made a ‘big splash’ pitching wise and this is what we got. ALWAYS a bad idea… Ross would be a big, big add.
goincoastal 2
*and when I say deal, I mean the extension.
mike156
This would be a very smart transaction for the Red Sox–it’s exactly the type of pitcher they were hoping to get with their off-season moves last year. The fact those guys have performed poorly this year doesn’t mean the strategy was flawed–Porcello is much better than this, even if he wasn’t worth the extension. And they certainly have the prospects for this–more so than the Yankees do. I think Boston’s system is somewhat overrated, but there’s still plenty of talent.