Newly minted Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow candidly acknowledged to reporters at the GM Meetings today that he’s already received trade interest in outfielder Alex Verdugo (via Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe). While there’s no indication that a deal is at all close, it’s nevertheless notable to hear a baseball operations leader willingly offer up that they’ve received trade interest in a player of note.
Verdugo stands as a logical offseason trade candidate for a few reasons. Boston fielded interest in the outfielder prior to the trade deadline but ultimately didn’t receive an offer to the now-former front office regime’s liking. The 27-year-old Verdugo is also entering his final season of club control and doing so at a time when Boston is at least relatively deep in outfield alternatives. Jarren Duran, Masataka Yoshida, Wilyer Abreu and top prospect Ceddanne Rafaela are all options to start in the outfield. Given the light free-agent market for hitters, Verdugo could hold some extra appeal to teams looking for bats. he turned in a solid .264/.324/.421 batting line this past season and is a .281/.338/.424 hitter in four seasons with the Sox.
While Verdugo was open about his desire to sign an extension with Boston over the summer, no deal materialized. To the contrary, his name actually surfaced in trade rumblings about a month later. While a swap didn’t come together, the juxtaposition was still notable. Verdugo also appeared to clash with skipper Alex Cora, to an extent, on multiple occasions; he was benched both in May and in August — first for not running out a grounder and secondly for a late arrival to the park.
Verdugo told The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey in October that he had no hard feelings, hoped to remain in Boston, and attributed some of those mental lapses to dealing with family and personal issues away from the field. “I’m not here to read out my sob story, but at the end of the day, I am still a human,” he said at the time. “I’m still a person. When your family is affected, when your family’s not doing the best, it weighs on you.”
The 2023 season was an uneven one for Verdugo, who hit at an All-Star level for four months but endured woeful slumps in July (.151/.232/.247) and September (.178/.208/.301). The rest of his season was strong enough — June in particular — that he still finished out the year with roughly league-average offensive output, but it was still the least-productive full season of his big league career to date.
It’s common for incoming front office personnel to shake up the roster and to show less loyalty to players who might’ve been drafted, developed and/or acquired by the former regime. That’s worth bearing in mind as Breslow takes over; he’s not the one who acquired Verdugo from the Dodgers as part of the Mookie Betts/David Price blockbuster — that falls to Chaim Bloom.
MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Verdugo to earn $9.2MM in his final season of arbitration eligibility — a perfectly reasonable price point for a solid, if not quite star-caliber outfielder. That’s all the more true in an offseason market where free agency is light on quality MLB hitters — particularly those who are anywhere near their physical prime. Were he a free agent right now, Verdugo would surely be a sought-after bat in position to land a multi-year deal. Being able to acquire him on a one-year pact in the $9-10MM range should hold broad appeal. That’s all the more true given Verdugo’s strong defensive ratings in right field this year.
Plenty of teams will be on the hunt for outfield help. The Guardians, Astros, Braves, White Sox, Marlins and archrival Yankees are among the teams likely in that camp (not that any have yet been tied specifically to Verdugo). Last month, MLBTR’s Nick Deeds took a look at some possible fits in the event that Verdugo were to hit the market.
Bloom trades Betts for Verdugo, instant villain
Breslow trades Verdugo for anything, instant hero
The way it should be
Personally I would unload Duran before Verdugo..
Verdigo is at least a ML ballplayer with ML baseball instincts & skills.
I believe Verdugo can be salvaged.
–Duran continues to make too many mental errors & is a subpar fielder, less than average hitter with elite speed and that’s it.
I’d consider trading both if it improved the team
Verdugo isn’t under club control after this year.
I’d trade Duran if we can get talent back but unlike Verdugo, Duran was an impact bat.
Franklin – Somebody has an unfounded issue with Duran. Use numbers to define the skill of the player not your hatred. His numbers completely contradict what you wrote.
Verdugo will always remind Red Sox fans of the travesty Bloom committed in his first few months as GM. It was his way of popping out of the gate and starting a massive downhill run. He had an Olympian effort. Not many could take a team down as fast as Bloom did and Verdugo, Wong and Downs will always be a reminder of that tragedy in Red Sox history.
There Red Sox were in the wild card hunt until Duran got hurt. Duran is a catalyst. Have him play center, Wilyer Abreu in right. Ceddanne Rafaela at 2nd, SS, and center.
Trade Verdugo for pitching an used his money for something else.
The Red Sox need at least 2 starting pitchers. There also is not much quality starters in the minors either.
By the end of 2024, the Red Sox will have Teel catching and Mayer at Short. They also have several good outfielders coming up so Duran should not be extended.
I was not opposed to the Betts trade because I knew we weren’t going to sign him again but we could’ve gotten more back.
I liked this post because we could trade Verdugo for a bag of balls and I’d be happy. Verdugo is just not an impact player, plain and simple.
No one was giving more if they also had to pay $24m for Price. The only question to me involves Greterol.
If he was traded a year earlier, as I proposed, he could have yielded more talent back.
The Dodgers took on $48M of the $96M remaining on David Price’s contract in the Betts trade. That is why the player return to Boston was less than it could have been.
The reason we didn’t get more was because he offloaded prices contract. I don’t think trading Betts was a sin because you couldn’t risk losing him for nothing, but attaching a contract that really had no bearing was his mistake.
You missed “Henry fires Bloom, road to redemption started” on the timeline
Agree Verdugo needs a new home after the run-ins with Cora (Self Inflicted). I do acknowledge, though, without his GG caliber defense we would have finished DEAD LAST in MLB instead of next to last.
BeeCarbo – Go back and watch every ball hit over Verdugo’s head and tell me about his gold glove efforts. He’s clueless on going back on balls and if the ball is above his shoulders he doesn’t track it to the glove very well. There are so many problems with modern metrics related to fielding I won’t bore you with the two pages of flaws in their calculations.
The important point in your comments is that Boston’s defense was horrible. Great point!! Devers and Yoshida being eliminated from fielding would move Boston into the top 10 in baseball defensively. Yep, they are THAT BAD.
BeeCarbo…… I could give a crap about Verdugo’s “run in’s” with Cora….. Cora is the problem.
Verdugo is not a gold glove-caliber defender.
I’m still wondering what a return would resemble.
wondering the same thing too. I’d be happy with a solid B+/A- prospect return TBH.
They’d be lucky to get a top 25 prospect probably looking at a 2-3 middle prospects or bullpen guys
It’s clear as day that Verdugo’s days in Boston are numbered and he’s due for a change of scenery.
He kind of feels like a Lyle Overbay or a whatever of that calibre- league average, worth around $8-$13M a year depending on the length of the deal and the current market shallowness or depth.
Will give you 10-20 HR’s a season, will play good defense, won’t hit for a great average, will have hot and cold streaks.
I think a trade to a more mid-market club like the Royals or the Twins or the Padres – since they’re trying to shed payroll and get cheaper- and signing an extension for like 5 years/$66M that could be worth up to 6 years/$80M ($9.5M w/ a $1.5M signing bonus followed by annual salaries of $13.5M a season w/ a $1M buyout on a $15M option)) would make a ton of sense.
I think he gets traded then hits free agency next year. No way someone extends him, he’s just not worth extending until he proves himself.
But he’s also going to get around $9M-$10M in his final year of arbitration and he is the kind of player who nowadays gets around $12M-$14M a year on a few separate 1-2 year deals over the same period so what’d be the difference in an extension that expresses the same value over the same number of seasons?
I’d bet on him getting a QO as well. That needs to be taken into consideration.
Honestly he would be a pretty good fit in LF for the Yankees. Not too many good LHBs in the OF market right now.
I’ve actually felt similarly. I think he’d be an under the radar solid outfielder for the Yankees. Nothing spectacular, but perfectly functional at the position and he might get a few extra home runs thanks to the short porch.
As a Red Sox fan I love the idea of putting an over-priced league average player in the Yankee outfield to fill one of the three spots. It’s a great strategic move to lessen the Yankees.
Would Cashman do it? Seems highly unlikely.
@trollfree
lots of salty Sox fans in here that made the mistake of thinking Verdugo’s ceiling was somehow in the neighborhood of Betts. Verdugo isn’t a flashy player, but he’s certainly not “over-priced” at $6 mil (or the $9ish mil he’s projected for next year).
Yankees had a combined .668 OPS (4th worst) and -3.4 WAR (worst) from their LFers this year. Even an average bat with a competent-enough glove would be a major improvement over what they cycled there this season. In 2021 and 2022, statcast data gives him 19 and 20 HRs if he were in NYY’s little league park (compared to 13 and 11 actual).
LFers hit .220 for the Yanks. Verdugo hit .264 in a down year and had a .275 xBA. There is no elite breakout coming with Verdugo, but he’s proven to be a doubles machine that can be reliable run scorer. Given the relatively cheap costs of him, Yanks would be pretty smart to flip a mid-range prospect for him if that’s all it costs.
That being said, I do not really see the Yanks/Red Sox coming together on a trade like this anytime soon, so it’s mostly wishful thinking.
mostly – You are absolutely right about how OVER RATED the entire package for Mookie was. Downs sucked but nobody believed me until he got DFA’d. Wong was 5th or 6th on the LAD depth chart at catcher with an upside of back-up catcher at the MLB level. His 80 OPS+ confirmed that in 2023. And Verdugo, the gem of the deal, was a highly over-rated long time prospect that had a very concerning back issue prior to the deal. As it turns out, he’s a league average bat and glove who was outperformed by Abreu for under $1MM per year. His $9.2MM needs to be non-tendered if he can’t be added to a pre-December trade. Breslow needs to get a move on it to make any attempt at getting value for the wasted resource named Verdugo.
The Yankees can get so much more for so much less on the open market. They don’t need Verdugo but as you say he would be an improvement over what they currently have. They love to over spend so at $9.2MM he would fit in well with the rest of the roster but like you, I don’t see any way the NYY/BOS deal would happen.
Over the summer they we’re talking Schmidt for Verdugo at one point. Right before the deadline.
…or the Yankees could bring back Franchy Cordero……
Plus his stat line this past season would be a big upgrade, as left field was a big blackhole for them, but keep in mind it obviously wasn’t their only one. That being said, not only would have they had their first losing record since 1992 if not for Judge, Cole, Torres and the bullpen for the most part, they would’ve clinched it just before the last week of the season, or at least the early part of the last week of the season if not before it.
Great, you can have him.
So does Cashman have to give you Andujar or Frazier? He’s got both of their agents on hold right now.
It would be suicide for breslow, but moving verdugo to the Yankees for solid bullpen help could work for both sides.
He needs the $9.2 mil this season so he can be done with the AfterPay balance on his chains
Mariners have wanted him for a long time. Won’t be surprised if they overpay to get a contact type bat like Verdugo.
Ryan – He would fit well in Seattle because he fades in the second half like they do!!
Troll, that’s not what happened. .500 team to the All-Star Break. Then went into hyperdrive until Sept 1. They led the AL West for a few days at the end of August and ultimately finished 2 games back when all said and done.
Ignorant – I stand corrected. 2023 was not a fade year for Seattle. It was simply inconsistent. That also qualifies Verdugo to be a Mariner!!
Yeah I will still give you one-third credit for your answer!
Over the past four seasons neither the Red Sox nor the Mariners have fielded a top-tier team, with each club advancing to the postseason only once.
But Seattle and Boston have not necessarily been in the same tier over that period. Over that span the Mariners have MLB’s ninth-best cumulative regular-season record at 295-251 while the Red Sox sport the 16th-best record with a losing mark of 272-274.
muskie73 – You are spot on but forgot to thank Bloom for Boston’s demise.
Its time to trade Verdugo. The few short stretches he actually produces don’t outweigh the long stretches he lags it on the field
I’d give you Austin Meadows for him if we are playing GM’s. Do we have a deal?
No. He gets traded for youngsters making no money, pitching or minor leaguers.
BlooBengal – YES. Deal. Meadows was never part of the Mookie deal as an over-hyped future all-star that turned out to be league average.
Meadows hasn’t played in two years thanks to Vertigo and mental health issues. You take the deal and non-tender him and you don’t waste $9.2MM on Verdugo. So if there is no trade market for Verdugo, I say non-tender him next month like Bloom should have done to JBJ when his arbitration number got to $11MM. $9.2MM is about $8.2MM more than what you could spend on another player with comparable numbers to Verdugo.
He’s better than a non tender candidate. This isn’t jbj
Tang It – JBJ was an exceptional fielder who couldn’t hit. Verdugo is a league average hitter and fielder set to make nearly $10MM in 2024. Bloom paid the worthless Kiki Hernandez $10MM which to me was a favor to Cora since they are practically related but Kiki was easily replaced by a guy making under $1MM. Same is true for Verdugo. Non-tender if you can’t deal him is the smart move. Giving Abreu, Duran and Rafaela playing time helps build the future. Verdugo does nothing for the future because he’ll be gone with Free Agency.
Let Verdugo hang around an extra year if he cannot be traded. Rafaela could use more time in AAA. By all means do not re-sign him. Let him walk in free agency.
Pitching is the priority. Even if it is prospects in lower levels with a very high upside. But that would mean signing 2 free Agents. Bring in Montgomery and the 2 Japanese pitchers. At some point Chris Sale will get hurt.
One headcase for another? No thanks. Unless you want to throw in his little brother or Riley Greene
Rspx = Agreed but Meadows issues are more acceptable despite needing to non-tender him too.
“I’m not here to read out my sob story, but at the end of the day, I am still a human,” But I’m going to do it anyway because I’m the type of human that whines and b1tches openly, both on and off the field,when things don’t go my way to the point it affects my performance and clubhouse….
verdugo needs to grow up, act like a professional and start taking responsibility for his own actions. please trade this garbage
Bruh.. Verdugo lost his grandma to stage 4 cancer not long after his mom was also diagnosed with cancer. I’m not saying he didn’t make a couple of mistakes during the season, but it’s straight up cold to dismiss family and especially family health as factors that sometimes affect players trying to do their jobs. I hope the sport itself and fans continue to gradually do a less bad job of letting the players be people.
Not to mention the guy played most of 2022 on a fractured toe. It’s probably why his defense was so much better this year. Still he really seems like a good change of scenery candidate.
Look up Dwight Evans. He had two young kids with BAD conditions and was underperforming keeping things to himself. A Boston Herald writer spilled the beans like Schilling did with Wake and everything changed. Evans suddenly started to play like the star they had written about. Human factors are real.
Thankfully some people understand that players are people with issues outside of baseball that can impact performance, just like professionals in any industry. They’re not robots.
dewey – If you’re talking about his hitting, that was Walt Hriniak’s doing.
”A lot of credit goes to Walt Hriniak,” Evans said, referring to the former Red Sox hitting coach who is now with the White Sox. ”Some people say practice makes perfect. Walt says perfect practice makes perfect. I was once having a bad session in the batting cage. ‘I’m not loose,’ I told him. You could hear his voice all over the park: ‘Well, I’m throwing batting practice and I’m loose. You get loose before you get in the cage.’
”He stayed on top of me in games and gave me hand signals on every pitch. You need that. I had been known as the man of 300 batting stances. On July 3, 1980, in Baltimore, when I was hitting about .175, Walt said, ‘Let’s try something.’ We made a little adjustment, and I’ve been using the same stance ever since.” He laughs. ”My wife, Susan, just said, ‘The rest is history.’
his family stuff is obviously awful but he had a reputation of at best being a dink. His tardiness and lack of professionalism were problems before he got to the sox.
Thank you acell10. Exactly my point. He’s had serious character issues since before he hit the majors.
Could be an excuse but I’m willing to give him the benefit.
swanzey – Great post, not even I knew about his mom.
And Dugie has always been an emotional guy, so he probably took all that a lot harder than more stoic players like Jim Rice and Jon Lester.
It’s probably questionable for me to reshare here to a larger audience. One of his siblings had tweeted about it a few months ago.
It shouldn’t need to be spelled out. The player saying “hey, I’m not trying to make excuses, but there was some stuff going on” needs to be enough. It’s not our business. I don’t know about anybody else, but I don’t think I’d be doing the best at work two days later after stuff like that.
If I knew I wouldn’t be able to do my best work, would let my colleagues down and could afford to do so, I’d take time off until I could as ready to come back and properly do the work I was being paid to do. This all speaks to his level of immaturity. Again, it’s an awful situation.
Bruh, just found out that verdugo pulled the same crap in LA and was called out for by Rich Hill. That was six years ago and he still hasn’t changed. What’s your excuse for him now?
dodgerblue.com/dodgers-news-dave-roberts-supports-…
Please- no- jerry depoto
What family issues did he have?
His grandmother died in June
Verdugo is not being traded to the Yankees. The Red Sox need young good pitching to pair with Bello. I also can’t see him being traded to the Astros Or Marlins.
I see Verdugo being dealt to the Braves or Mariners.
If to the Braves, I can see a package around the Red Sox receiving AJ Smith-Shawver.
If to the Mariners, how about Verdugo and prospects Marcelo Mayer and Blaze Jordan for Bryan Woo and prospect Cole Young or Gabriel Gonzalez?
Red Sox sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto. A rotation with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Woo, and Bello would be young and good. With Casas, and Devers as the centerpiece as the youngers on offense with prospect Kyle Teel on his way.
That trade is terrible and makes zero sense for both teams to swap Young and Mayer. Both teams would be foolish to consider it.
now if you said something like vertigo and blaze for Emerson hancock that’d make more sense
Emerson had injury issues at the end of the season.
water: He didn’t require surgery and is expected to be fully healthy for next season. He is much more realistic candidates to get traded vs. Gilbert or Kirby.
acello,
I think A deal of Verdago, Mayer, and Jordan could get the Sox Woo and prospect Young Or Gonzalez. Sox would need to include two prospects to get Woo and Young or Gonzalez. Woo he is young and has good stuff.
water: again a terrible trade that ultimately does nothing for both teams. I don’t know why you think the sox have to include Mayer in any of these deals to make them work and essentially is swapping one highly rated SS for a slight less rated one in the case of young of gonzalez. Why would either team do that? it makes no sense.
Lmao. They are not getting AJ S-S for Verdugo.
I don’t hate the Mariners idea but it feels like if Mayer gets moved at all it’s gonna return the likes of a Gilbert over a Woo. Am I off here?
Seattle is looking for established impact. Bats. not top prospects.
I like the Ms idea but wouldn’t Mayer make more sense to move for the likes of Gilbert or Kirby?
Mayer most likely isn’t going anywhere nor should he. half an injury plagued season is not a reason to move off him and there’s even less of a chance the Mariners move Gilbert or Kirby.
Woo-1st year in mlb
Young-sea #1 prospect
And
Gonzales-sea#3 prospect.
Verdugo- 1 year till free agency
What time is your skit at the comedy club
hoof- hence I said Boston would have to include Mayer and Jordan.
It’s still a terrible trade no matter what you want to add to add to it.
no it is not
it 100% is. See above
That is a terrible trade…. stop with this trading Mayer garbage, he was hurt last year… there is a reason why he was in the Top 10 overall in prospect and anyone that has soured on him because of last season results after his injury is foolish.
Cooper – I value your opinion. Do you see a brighter future for Mayer or Anthony? My thoughts lean to Anthony with Mayer being an above league average SS while Anthony could be a perennial all-star outfielder.
Trading them for pitching to me is a bad move because I believe like DD that you build your core team through the farm system with regard to hitting and the bottom of the rotation pitchers but you BUY your top of the rotation pitchers. Therefore, both Mayer and Anthony along with Rafaela, Duran and Casas are all home grown hitters/fielders whereas Bello, Houck and Crawford are not top of the rotation pitchers so you go buy them with all the money you save on the home grown fielders.
The Braves are not going to trade Smith-Shawver for 1 year of Verdugo. He is one of their best options to break camp with the team next year. Now if the Red Sox are willing to take a deal for pitching that is any combination of players other than him is debatable for the Braves, but they do have several other players that are controllable or they could try a change of scenery for Soroka plus another pitching prospect. I just don’t see the Braves trading Smith-Shawver in the off-season.
Sometimes we as fans over value our prospects, but Smith-Shawver is probably the 1 Braves prospect that could be a legit starting rotation option as soon as next year. The Braves top 7 prospects are pitchers and they have Vines, Dodd, Winans, Schuster that could be added pieces (not headliners) to provide near-mlb ready players. Anderson and Soroka could also be included but their value would be limited due to injuries and lack of performance this past year.
SeibuLionsNPB,
Not saying Boston would get Smith-Shawver straight up for Verdugo. it would be a package. Like prospects involved such as Mayer from Boston ina. bigger trade
Water: I’m not sure why you’re so keen on adding Mayer to every possible trade iteration when there are plenty of other directions that the sox could go in. As both of those teams (braves, mariners) are looking for impact MLB players or guys closer to the majors.
acello cause Verdugo alone if not getting the Sox a good young SP. Sox will need to include a prospect like Mayer
water: They don’t need to include a prospect like Mayer to get a good young pitcher given the depth of position players in their farm system.
I’d trade Verdugo for Vaughn Grissom.
Seems a bit one sided no? I could see Dodd or Shuster or someone in that vain, and then someone like Soroka or Ian. The Sox would have to put in more than just Verdugo.
I would like to see him on the Tigers and an extension.
Hire the Superfife already! All ready!
He hits a lot of doubles, not a bad BA and has good RBI numbers, doesn’t SO once every 3 at bats. With Teel or someone, a significant trade could be made. So what if he is LH’d. The Tigers need to mix it up.
Teel isn’t going anywhere. Boston is thin at catcher
He will be in Boston by the end of 24.
Why do I feel like he’s going to be a White Sock for some dumb reason
Because he’s an asshat with chains?
Jarren Duran, Masataka Yoshida, Wilyer Abreu and top prospect Ceddanne Rafaela are all options to start in the outfield.
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The issue is that three of those guys don’t play RF. Abreu does, but he is a question mark. It’s like saying a team has 3 2Bs, so they can afford to trade a SS.
Joe: Abreu has enough experience in either corner position to be an above average defender and Rafaela could easily transition over there if needed. If your’e concerned about Abreu’s hitting that’s fine but I’d honestly take my chances with either of them vs another year of Verdugo.
I think they should bring Duvall back on another one year contract if possible. Right handed bat that can play a decent RF, to balance out their surplus of left handed hitting CF/LFers.
Joe – You are suggesting a versatile player like Rafaela can’t play RF but can play CF and SS? That makes no sense. If he can play CF he will be even better in the much tougher RF area of Fenway park.
It’s quite simple:
LF – Abreu until Anthony arrives
CF – Duran
RF – Rafaela as the new Mookie Betts
Yoshida is strickly a DH or a trade. Which ever helps the team the most. Since Devers is ONLY a DH Breslow has a tough choice. Who has to go? Devers or Yoshida, two of the worst contracts signed by Bloom.
You are suggesting a versatile player like Rafaela can’t play RF but can play CF and SS?
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Since I didn’t mention CF & SS, I don’t know what your point is.
Joe – You suggested and I quote:
The issue is that three of those guys don’t play RF. Abreu does, but he is a question mark. It’s like saying a team has 3 2Bs, so they can afford to trade a SS..
We all know Fenway park is NOT like minor league parks and you are projecting where they have played in the past to playing at Fenway. I think that is unfair because they are athletic, talented outfielders. Since I consider Rafaela the MOST athletic and talented with the best arm I think he makes perfect sense in right field and no amount of play in any position in the minors can prepare him for right field in Fenway. Like everyone else, he’ll need to learn it and he has the skills to do that and the arm to throw out base runners trying to advance.
I wasn’t trying to put words in your mouth, I am simply pointing out that Abreu’s right field experience is NOT an advantage over the others PLUS he’s the odd man out when Anthony is ready. Abreu needs to play the position that Anthony will play when he’s ready. Duran’s arm may be the weakest of the three future outfielders but his speed is superior to Anthony’s so I slotted Anthony in LF and Duran in CF but that could flip flop if Anthony proves he can handle the vast area in CF. I am firm on Rafaela in RF because I think it’s the toughest field and he’s the best fielder with the best arm.
Joe – You suggested and I quote:
The issue is that three of those guys don’t play RF. Abreu does, but he is a question mark. It’s like saying a team has 3 2Bs, so they can afford to trade a SS..
==========================
It was an analogy. It doesn’t matter how many MIs you have if none of them can play SS. It doesn’t matter how many OFs you have if none of them can play RF.
TF – Certain outfielders have difficulty with the angle/trajectory of fly balls to RF and/or LF.
There is a reason why Rafaela in his entire professional career has played 2.173 innings in CF, 74 innings in LF, and only 6 innings in RF.
Fever – You are right. He’s the best outfielder and most teams use the best outfielder in CF. Fenway changes that. The best outfielder needs to be in right field not center field. Thus, the best outfielder needs to go to RF so I put Rafaela there. Plus he has the best arm. A Dwight Evans throwback but with far greater speed.
There is a reason why Rafaela in his entire professional career has played 2.173 innings in CF, 74 innings in LF, and only 6 innings in RF.
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He’s a CF because he is a GG-caliber CF, with some questionable hitting metrics. I assume he can transition to RF, but why?
Yoshida will play some outfield this year. He will transition to DH until his contract ends. Then Devers will move from 3rd to DH.
Originally, I thought putting Rafaela at short till Mayer is ready and move Story back to 2nd. An outfield of Yosida, Duran and Abreu until Mayer is ready. But now I think that is out of the question.
Joe I like Duran in left, Rafaela in center, and the far superior arm of Abreu in right.
They aren’t moving Devers off of third so hopefully they mostly DH Yoshida under the current construction. This is, of course, contingent on moving Verdugo which I think they will. I say let the kids play in the outfield see what you got Rafaela has ton of range so he can also cut down on the amount of field that needs to be patrolled in right.field. If nothing else the defense is much improved and while I’m quite confident Abreu hits I’m concerned about Rafaela offensively. If Rafaela falls on his face offensively I’m talking sub .200 with little to no power then let Duran take over center and move Yoshida in a platoon in left with Refsnyder and DH Yoshida when there’s a lefty. It’s not ideal but it’s serviceable if Rafaela just can’t hit.
I’d be open to a couple of different alignments.
I’m a fan of Lee from SK at the price MLBR mentions ($50M/5). If we could land Lee, I’d put both Verdugo & Rafael on the block and go with Yoshida/Duran/Lee. In 2025, presuming Anthony is ready, move Yoshida to DH, and go with Duran/Lee/Anthony.
Joe: what’s the defensive scouting report on Lee? I haven’t seen much
I’m a big fan of Abreu. He was told he was to passive passive at the plate at the beggining of the season. He looked to walk at some point early in June he really started to let it fly and had great success. He was really good. He continued to do that when he got to the bigs he still gets his walks but he swings with bad intentions when he swings now. He still has that good eye but with his heavy uppercut swing he’s vulnerable to high fastballs up in the zone. I think he adjusts and turns into Casas light. He has more in zone swing and miss but his power is legit and I think he gets to it in the bigs. He’s a keeper. His defense is also very solid not spectacular like Rafaela but very solid and his arm is borderline elite easily the best arm in an outfield of Duran, Rafaela, and him. I like him in right and think he will work out their kinda reminds me of Trot Nixon.
Bruin1012 – There is a very good reason Abreu isn’t ranked above Rafaela, Duran or Anthony. He’s not as good!!!
Check with Baseball America. Rafaela’s arm is 60, Abreu is 55 and Anthony is 50. Thus, Anthony in LF and Rafaela in RF. Abreu will be the fourth outfielder if he proves last year wasn’t a fluke.
Abreu has one season to prove his value just like Dalbec had limited time until Casas arrived. Abreu hopefully will provide adequate stats to keep him in the line-up until Anthony arrives.
Why you don’t see Rafaela in a better light is beyond me. You profess yourself as a genius at finding talent but you don’t see Rafaela and Anthony as the future of the Boston Red Sox. They are both likely to out perform Mayer and Yorke. The line-up eventually will have Rafaela leading off, Yoshida batting second assuming Breslow is smart and dumps the ridiculous Devers contract, Anthony batting 3rd, Casas batting fourth, the new 3B batting 5th, Story batting 6th, Garver batting 7th, Merrifield batting 8th and Duran batting 9th. A ton of speed before the top of the order!!
Very bright future ahead if Breslow can fix the defense and get the two top of the rotation starters.
acell102 days ago
Joe: what’s the defensive scouting report on Lee?
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The scouting report I read was a bit dated, but ranked him highly. But he did fracture his ankle this season.
Wouldn’t mind him on the Jays. Would an Espinal, Richards deal for Verdugo work?
Mtog – ABSOLUTELY!!! Espinal becomes the 3B until they get a permanent one so Devers goes to DH.
Getz will trade Jake Eder for him and then sign him to 3 year deal.
Soto for Vergudo straight up!
Verdugo was/is nothing more than Benintendi 2.0 which is why I wasn’t too hurt in the Betts trade. I figured the peripherals would develop and Boston would’ve considered it a decent trade.
I would expect similar returns for Verdugo that they got for AB. Lotto tickets basically.
rhswanzey- I didn’t dismiss squat. his issues have been around far longer than that including some really shady stuff. People go through awful stuff everyday of the year with the added stress of worrying about rent, putting food on the table and working three jobs to support a family. Yeah, it sucks for him too but he has the luxury of taking a large amount of leave that most of us don’t. He should’ve taken the time off until his head was on straight.
And for that matter, if those were the true reasons for his not running out grounders and being late then why was cora so unhappy with him to the point he was benched? cora heard the reasoning and was like “I don’t give a crap”? I’m not buying it.
Dipoto: please dont
Verdugo has next to no trade value so he must be coupled or part of a package deal with some valuable player or players. I’m still high on Arenado for Devers and Verdugo. Boston finally gets a great defensive 3B and STL gets a DH and moves Jordan from OF to 3B and uses Verdugo in 2024 as their third outfielder.
If Breslow wants a clean slate trade Devers to SF for Logan Webb. and Casey Schmidt. Solves the 3B issue and gives us a SP2 for $8MM a year. It’s a salary dump but SF needs offense and SF fans loved Panda so they’ll love Devers!!
What are you smoking?! Arenado would not accept a trade to BOS. No trade clause. Mayer is projected to be a 3B at the major league level. Arenado has $144 million left vs Devers’ $331 million. Cardinals FO said they expect to have the same payroll as last season for 2024.
Mayer is NOT projected to be a 3B. he’s still projected to be a SS.
dirty – Let me ask you – WHAT ARE YOU SMOKING?
Mayer is not projected at 3B. He NEVER has been. He’s ALWAYS been a SS.
Arenado has fewer years at a higher price so the Cardinals LOWER their 2024 payroll with this deal.
Arenado wants to win. and I know he would take a move to Boston if Cora is gone and the team lands two SPs. He’s a great clubhouse guy he would take issue with Cora all the time for being lazy. He’s got a Varitek personality. Red Sox fans would love him, especially when all the balls Devers could never field are handled routinely.
So you may not like the trade but it works in many ways:
1 – Lowers STL payroll in 2024
2 – Gives STL a chance to move Jordan back to 3B
3 – Moves the Boston team defense into top 10
4 – Give STL a good hitting DH for the next decade
Why it won’t happen – Arenado won’t want to play for Cora so he uses his trade clause to stop the deal.
TF – When it comes to Dugie, set aside your emotions! Haha!
He certainly has trade value as an average hitter and above average fielder, especially this offseason where there are very very few decent OF’ers available.
His is not a common sense approach to the RS. For the most part, KD just wants to use DD or BC guys, and get rid of the CB guys.
Verdugo to the Marlins for Tanner Scott.
This time of year everyone asks about everyone to test the waters before the fun begins. I’d be more surprised more if no one asked about him.
Verdugo sucks. Bad attitude no discipline.
Verdugo would be a great fit for the Astros:
Team values defense and contact hitting.
Would join a team that already has 3 outfielders who mash LHP.
Would slide in as the 8th or 9th best hitter so no pressure.
The Red Sox just need to value him as a strong-side platoon starter with only 1 year of control left and trade him for a couple of 40 grade prospects
Did it sound like Verdugo blamed family issues for bad behavior? Didn’t we just hear Eduardo Rodriguez blame family issues for bad behavior and wanting to stay in Detroit (then opt out)? Trade Verdugo and his implausible batting stance for anything you can get.
team – ERod bad behavior? His blocking a trade to the Dodgers isn’t bad behavior, it’s exercising a right that his contract gave him.
Fever, bad behavior reference was re his abandoning the team in 2022. He’ll say anything to obfuscate.
Fever – EROD sucks and clearly he was in a different click than Mookie and JD. He needs to stay in smaller markets since his suckyness will always come out and the press will bury him alive in a big market!!!
Trade him, get the most out him you can. In Verdgo’s defense, I don’t think he is that good. Unfortunately he was a major piece in the ( Mookie trade) .
Dump him for some seeds. Guy’s overrated and should be in AAA.
I’ve heard rumors of a Sox/yanks trade verdugo for Torres…any takers?
We have options at 2nd. Only as a last resort. Both have 1 year from free agency. Either way they walk.
The Astros need a left handed bat to help out Yordan Alvarez and help the Astros get back in the World Series.
I can see the Mariners wanting Alex Verdugo