Some notes from Fenway Park…
- With the Red Sox looking for power bats this winter, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald looks at how making a big signing (i.e. J.D. Martinez, Eric Hosmer) or trade (for Giancarlo Stanton) would impact the club’s payroll and the rest of its offseason moves. For instance, signing Martinez would give the Sox less future financial space to make other high-profile moves this winter, assuming Boston wanted to keep some money free to ink its current young stars to extensions.
- A much more conservative offseason forecast is provided by Boston.com’s Paul Swydan, who argues that the Red Sox should go after less-expensive options (i.e. Jay Bruce, Hyun Soo Kim, Zach Duke) to address their first base, outfield, and bullpen needs, while still saving money for extensions and to make a big signing from the star-laden 2018-19 free agent class.
- Bryce Brentz looks like the team’s top choice for the fourth outfielder role next year, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told MLB.com’s Ian Browne and other reporters earlier this week. With Chris Young hitting free agency, the Red Sox have a need for a backup outfielder, particularly a right-handed hitter who can spell Jackie Bradley Jr. and Andrew Benintendi against southpaws. Brentz has only appeared in 34 MLB games since the Sox selected him 36th overall in the 2010 draft, though he is coming off a very strong 2017 season that saw him hit .271/.334/.529 with 31 homers over 494 PA for Triple-A Pawtucket.
- Minor league pitchers Jalen Beeks, Chandler Shepherd, and Jake Cosart seem like the top candidates to fill the three open spots on the 40-man roster, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe writes. Teams have until 7pm CT to set their rosters in advance of the Rule 5 Draft on December 14.
Hyun Soo Kim? LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Oh Elizabeth, this is the big one! I’m feeling faint from the laughter brought on by that suggestion. I’ll be back. I need to rest before I pass ou
Might as well just sign Mitch Moreland back if they can’t get a bigger bat. 20 HR is better than 1.. I’ve been waiting for Bryce Brentz to get his shot for a few years now. I think he will do well once given the chance.
Brentz is a bust. Dombrowski’s just hyping him up for a trade.
Well he did hit 31 dingers in AAA… Not saying he’ll hit 31 in the bigs, but he definitely has pop.
See my Brentz comment below. We’ve been waiting for him for 6 years.
Whats so funny about him for a bench OF spot?
He has a 2017 WAR of -1.3 and a lifetime WAR of -0.7, and WAR AND SABERMETRICS ARE EVERYTHING!!!!! On that basis alone, the Red Sox could do better.
Hyun Ssoo Kim as your 4th outfielder is bad for a lot of reasons. He’s already shown he struggles with inconsistent playing time, his arm is an absolute joke, he really is a left field only option. Maybe he can play a below average rf but he certainly can’t play center. Guy can hit a little bit but he doesn’t have a ton of pop or use the pop he has and its rough watching him throw the baseball. Can’t stress the bad arm enough.
I think it’s always funny how they bring up the money stuff Boston always has money no matter how much they spend the yr before so it’s just crazy to bring it up
Just cuz they have it doesn’t mean they’re willing to spend it, especially with the luxury tax Now
Chris Young asked to come back. I guess the feeling isn’t mutual.
Tony LaRussa probably called the agent for the other Chris Young instead.
I hear that Jose Abreu might be available. What do the Red Sox have left on the farm after trading for Chris Sale?
Not much.
With the emergence of Rafael Devers,Michael Chavis is a chip for them. Had a good Arizona Fall League and is a top 5 prospect. Also, if they go after Abreu, they can include Sam Travis. Moreland was supposed to bridge until Travis was ready. Seems Dombrowski wants to go in a different direction with that though. So they may as well include him.
Michael Chavis is a fringe prospect who hit .261 in the Arizona Fall League with some power and two errors.
Two years of Jose Abreu should command far more than Chavis and 24-year-old Sam Travis, who posted a pedestrian wRC+ of 107 in Triple A this year.
Chavis hit .282/.347/.563 with 31 HRs and 35 2Bs between A and AA this year as a 21 year-old. Certainly more than a fringe prospect.
Good reply. muskie73’s comment is the essence of cherry-picking,
If Dedgar Jimenez is left unprotected, he’s definitely getting taken in the RV
21 years old
3.02 ERA between HiA and AA (146 innings total)
There are other guys as well like Hildemaro Requena, Kevin McAvoy
They are one of the more interesting cases this season.
Mitch Moreland did pretty good resign him
Yes and I think he did a nice job as well. But I think the Sox want more. More than the status quo of 250 and 20 home runs.
Rusney Castillo? I would think he would have the first shot at the 4th outfield spot barring a decent free agent signing. Brentz should definitely get a look, but if Castillo can build on his all-star AAA season, he’ll be worth his contract for once.
He doesn’t count towards the lux tax if he’s not on the 40 man roster. He’s not coming back
I’m aware of that, but the Sox ducked the luxury tax threshold last year so they’ll certainly be willing to go over.
As for Castillo, if he were to replicate what he did in AAA last year (I know, MLB isn’t AAA) he could have numbers similar to Josh Reddick when scaled to a full 162. I think any team would be hard pressed to find a .300/.350/.500 who plays a decent to good outfield and can run well for 11 Million. It would depend if the Sox think they should shell that out for what would be a 4th outfielder.
Sox will go over the basic luxury tax threshold in 2018 but they do not want to go past the next threshold of $237M, which brings additional penalties. Using Castillo probably is too risky, unless they go Filene’s Basement for all other additions.
Rusney’s sentence to Pawtucket Prison is not over yet. John Henry’s been skimming the system and banishing him to avoid paying luxury tax as a punishment for agreeing to overpay him.
Trader Dave will continue to bust up what was a fertile minor league system to load the roster with over the Hill players. Think Miggy for first.
This is mere speculation on my part but Rusney Castillo (along with three annual payments of $5M) and Bryce Brentz could be part of Boston’s offer to Miami for Giancarlo (Mike) Stanton. Before the Marlin’s are through dumping salary, one or both of the aforementioned could be playing regularly in Miami’s outfield, along side Marco Hernandez who might also go in the deal to replace Dee Gordon at 2B. Gordon, if part of the Stanton trade, could bring much speed on the base paths to Beantown. This would be something the BoSox have not had since Jacoby Ellsbury signed with the Yankees.
Castillo is a total bust with a big contract. No way out of it. No team will take that back in a trade.
Brentz is a bust, they’ve been waiting on him 6 years. He has ONE total Major League home run in all those call sept callups. Total bust. Not trade worthy. 30 years old.