Dec. 5: The Red Sox are “stepping up [their] efforts” to bring Lugo to Boston, reports Heyman, who notes that the Braves are among the four to five other clubs still in the mix for the righty. Cotillo tweets the Red Sox are “expected” to make a formal offer to Lugo soon, if they haven’t already.
Dec. 4: Seth Lugo is a popular target in the middle tiers of free agency. The Tigers (prior to signing Kenta Maeda) and Dodgers have been publicly tied to the right-hander, who has reportedly drawn interest from upwards of half the league.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post adds a few more clubs to the mix, reporting that the Braves are among the teams showing interest. Heyman adds the Reds, Red Sox and Diamondbacks have also been involved this offseason — although it’s not specified whether Cincinnati’s interest predated their two-year contract with Lugo’s former San Diego teammate Nick Martinez.
The newly revealed suitors on Lugo are all sensible. Each has found themselves in the market for starting pitching. The Braves made a run at Aaron Nola before he returned to the Phillies. They subsequently signed Reynaldo López, whom they’re considering stretching back to rotation work. Atlanta also acquired Marco Gonzales in last night’s trade with the Mariners but reportedly plan to flip the southpaw elsewhere.
Boston has been in the market for multiple starting pitchers. They’re involved on top-of-the-market options like Jordan Montgomery and Yoshinobu Yamamoto but are surely identifying targets at various tiers of free agency. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow reiterated this afternoon that the rotation was the Sox’s top priority (relayed by Chris Cotillo of MassLive).
The D-Backs have made no secret of their desire for a mid-rotation starter to step in behind Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly and alongside Brandon Pfaadt. Arizona general manager Mike Hazen suggested this evening that acquisition was likelier to come via free agency than trade, although he unsurprisingly indicated they’re exploring both avenues (link via Steve Gilbert of MLB.com).
Cincinnati added Martinez last week, bringing in the veteran righty to join an otherwise young starting staff. There’s still room for more innings considering the injury history and/or limited MLB track records of players like Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Graham Ashcraft and Brandon Williamson. The Reds have also left open the possibility of keeping Martinez in a swing/multi-inning relief role, although it’d be an odd decision to guarantee him $13MM annually over two seasons if they didn’t anticipate him earning a spot in the rotation.
Lugo, entering his age-34 campaign, is reportedly seeking a three-year deal. He has a strong case for one on the heels of a 3.57 ERA over 26 starts for the Padres.
A 3 year deal for a guy entering his age 34 season is probably not going to end well. I wouldnt go further than 2 plus an option at the MOST, and, I’m sure some win-now club will be desperate enough to add that third year.
Great Red Sox want another #3 or #4 SP. We need a young ace-type SP to build around Bello not another #4 type SP
At this point it does feel like teams are panicking a little at the price of the top of the market and grasping at whats not at that level like it is.
With the Bally’s situation, a lot of teams are not going to pay exorbitant prices for players. Unfortunately that means the large markets will clean up and the disparity between large and small markets will get even worse.
Not many players want to play for Red Sox unfortunately so Red Sox have to take what they can get. That’s why they’ve been trying to trade for starters. Millionaires tax and market pressure hurts Boston, so now they have to overpay for anyone other then one year rental type players.
Ridiculous. A lot of players want to play for the Sox. One in every crowd with this nonsense.
How the mighty have fallen. For a long long time RS were up there with the Yankees duking it out for the best players. Refreshing change for us non RS fans. Baseball is still broken though. Big market teams just have to outbid everyone else for the best players.
Absurd comment. Please take Red Sox fan out of your name and just go by Eric from now on.
Water, the Red Sox WILL land a top of the rotation guy. Yamamoto I think is the ultimate Target and goal.
I think the Red Sox are the team that gets him because he makes the most sense and is a perfect fit in so many different categories. Now is the time to add a guy like him.
water – The Sox have made it clear they want a stud #1 SP and a mid-tier SP.
There’s nothing wrong with getting the mid-tier one first.
For today’s SP market, a 3-year deal for Lugo is reasonable. The guy has been extremely solid since 2018 (we don’t count 2020) and there’s no reason to believe he can’t maintain a 3.50 ERA for the next 3 years.
He went at least 6 innings in 16 of his 26 starts last year. That more than anything else is what the Sox desperately needed last year. They got far too many 4 inning starts from the guys in their rotation, which killed the pen by the later months of the season. Yes they still need someone who can be a front of the rotation starter, but they need reliable innings in their rotation too.
KingKen – That’s great but that was the first time in his history to do it. Can he repeat the effort without getting hurt? Also, how many SP3-5 SPs does the team want to roster?
It’s almost like the Red Sox organization is a doll collector that only likes DHs and SP3-5. That was Bloom’s thing. Let’s hope it’s not Breslow’s. He needs to move a DH as soon as possible and put the remaining DH at the DH position then move forward filling the holes at SP, 3B, 2B and lefty reliever.
Guys like Houck and possibly Whitlock are better suited for relief roles, so filling the 3-5 slots with capable guys who can give decent efforts of length that allow those others to be pushed to the pen where they’re better suited is a win-win scenario.
Ken – If BOTH Houck and Whit are in the pen, then Pivetta will be a fulltime starter. Which means the rotation consists of Crawford, Sale, Pivetta, Bello, Lugo and Yama.
Strong and deep, ten times better than anything Bloom put together!
Lugo has only 641 career IP on his arm and didn’t pitch in MLB until he was 26.
YBC – while it’s true that last year was his first in many years used as a SP, that doesn’t stop father time.
Also, relievers throw fewer IP/season, but, also don’t get 4 days, sometimes 5 between appearances either to recover. Workload effects per IP on a RP arm vs SP arm aren’t equal, it’s why a SP usually won’t see dead arm issues at 50 IP into a season but a RP can.
GA – If Breslow is considering Lugo I’ll be shocked. Heyman is always creating rumors so don’t hold your breath on this one. It makes no sense. I’d rather have Houck,Crawford or Pivetta pitching than Lugo. The guy is 34 next year and started 26 times for the first time in his career and still pitched less than 150 innings.
In what way would Lugo help the Red Sox? It’s a Bloom-like move. Go cheap and get crap.. Nobody knows if a guy who peaked at 101 IP in 2018 and 2017 can return after throwing a record high number of innings in 2023.
It’s Heyman being Heyman. If this is a guy Breslow wants then we don’t want Breslow but I doubt it. It’s just more crap made up by Heyman. He needs filler time since nothing is popping at the winter meetings.
I think Lugo is fully ramped up now and more likely to be useful for a full season. Last season was the huge question mark. Whether he could hang around as a SP and give you 150+ innings.
He checked the box. Age is not on his side and I don’t want him for 3 years. I think some team will give it though. I preferred Maeda @2/25.
Brian – FYI he didn’t hit the 150+ IP!! (146.1).
Shouldn’t the GM be slotting players in open holes?
SP1 – OPEN
SP2 – OPEN
SP3 – Sale
SP4 – Bello
SP5 – Houck
SP6 – Crawford
So where does Lugo slot in? He’s depth and he’s expensive depth. Why build depth before you bag the two big fish you need?
TF – This season was his first as a SP in 6 years, I think 5.6 IP per start is about as good as you can expect in that situation.
If age is the only concern, don’t worry about it. Can you imagine if teams didn’t want Scherzer or Verlander or Clemens or Moyer or Hill after they just turned 34?
I’m all in on Lugo, hope the Sox get him.
I agree. I’d also throw in that Lugo is very consistent. If he fails as an SP, I think he has a solid floor as a long-man/spot starter. His EV was a bit high last year, but I don’t see many negatives.
Fever – Like I mentioned to Brian, what slot does he fit into? Why do this before you land the needed SP1 and SP2? It makes no sense.
Joe – The big negative is money wasted on a guy who fills no slot. Why not just sign another DH? It makes no sense.
TF – Yama has another month to decide on a team, same with Shot, and both Snell and/or Monty might play it smart and wait for the Japanese guys to raise the market.
So you’re gonna let a guy you want sign elsewhere because you’re waiting on other pitchers to sign?
Nope, you grab Lugo while he’s still available.
Our rotation will be Sale, Bello, and Crawford. Houck will be in the BP, and Pivetta will be our #6. We need two SPs.
TF..the answer to your question is simple..options for sp1 and sp2 are not yet ready to sign ..so rather than lose out on lugo sign him when he is ready..there is nothing that suggests The red sox are settling for lugo vs higher end sp1 and sp2..so until we see our preferred options sign elsewhere lets just be happy to slot lugo into the rotation and move one of crawford or pivetta to the pen..these are humans they all take thier own time..lets see how it plays out before assuming anything
TF ..We need more than 2 new starting pitchers..especially with sales injury history..def no way to definitly say money wasted unless you know of someplace that has the exact budget breslow is working with? ..all ive heard and read is they are not afraid to exceed tax thresholds..so..if you have some info we dont please share
Joe – I wrote the same thing right before you did.
Pool – No chance of getting 3 pure SP’s unless Sale or Crawford or Pivetta or Bello are permanently out of the rotation. I don’t see that happening unless Crawford or Bello regress a lot, which I doubt will happen. Or maybe if one of them gets injured in ST.
They’ve already got 3 long relievers in Houck, Whit and Winck. I can’t imagine a 4th.
GASox – I usually agree with you, but not here. You really think his performance would go down at age 35 or 36? Even with only 640 innings on his arm?
BTW – How have you been? Still heading up to Mass on a regular basis?
If you are flying into BDL in January, try attending Winter Weekend if possible. It’s not as great as it used to be, but still a good experience.
Fever – Houck is a starter. He’s only relieved in 2022 because Cora the MORON made him do it. He had one small stint in the minors at relief as well. He’s been a SP his whole life and he’s better than Bello and Crawford if they would stop messing with him going back and forth like the Yankees screwed up Joba Chamberlain.
If the season started today the rotation based on skill would be:
1 Sale
2 Houck
3 Bello
4 Crawford
5 Pivetta
What we need is two guys to fill spots 1 and 2 then move Sale down to 3 and Houck and Bello at four and five with Crawford and Pivetta as depth.
The bullpen is pretty much set but a few upgrades would make it better:
Closer – Jansen
Righty set-up men – Martin and Winck
Lefty set-up men = TBD (I prefer Hader for this spot) and Bernadino (upgrade?)
So here are the 13 pitchers
1 TBD (Yamamoto)
2 TBD (Bieber)
3 Sale
4 Houck
5 Bello
6 Crawford (depth starter SP6)
7 Whitlock (stress inning reliever)
8 Pivetta (Long relief)
9 Martin
10 Winckowski
11 Bernadino
12 TBD – (Hader or another lefty set-up man)
13 Jansen
What will be interesting to see is if Bailey will use Houck as a starter or reliever. He’ll be a success either way but they need to stop flip-flopping the guy or they will ruin his career.
Please note, Lugo pushes one of the young guys out of the rotation OR he goes into the 2 hole which he is not qualified to do.
Lugo is a very bad choice at this time. If you can’t land SPs and it’s late say end of FEB then fine but right now we need two big time SPs not a depth guy.
Yamamoto and Bieber would be outstanding. Bieber will be 29 next year and he’s been a stud since he pitched at UC Santa Barbara in 2014 to 2016. Since then he dominated the minors until his call up in 2018 at age 23.
He got 19 starts that year and got his feet wet. In 2019 his second season he made the all-star game and finished 4th in the Cy Young voting with a 3.28 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. His ERA+ was 144 after it being 95 in his rookie season. He basically arrived as a star pitcher in 2019. In the shortened 2020 he got 12 starts finishing at 8-1 with an ERA of 1.63 and a WHIP of 0.87!!!! He won the Cy Young and finished 4th in the MVP voting. In 2021 he was an all-star with a 3.17 ERA and a WHIP of 1.21. He got hurt that season so he only started 16 games and finished at 7-4. In 2022, his third full season he finished 7th in the Cy Young vote with a 2.88 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. He made 31 starts and went 13-8.
In 2023 he struggled for the first time since he got drafted. He had just 21 starts and his ERA jumped to 3.80 which is better than the entire Red Sox staff but was considered bad for him. His WHIP was off as well at 1.23 which was also better than most Boston pitchers but bad for him.
Boston has the depth in the farm system plus Verdugo and Yoshida to offer Cleveland to get Bieber. If they could do the deal now then when Yamamoto is signed the team would be almost ready to compete in 2024.
Woopdity-freakin-do
For Atlanta I don’t think Lugo makes a lot of sense; he isn’t that ace top rotation starter to push them over the top. He is more of middle to back end of rotation. For what Lugo is going cost both money wise and contract length I would rather Atlanta pass on him. Not sure he would even be much of a upgrade over Gonzales as Lugo doesn’t have a deep resume to show how he will hold up over another season
Could be a swing man role since he has experience doing both.
There better be 2 better pitchers following Lugo to the Sox or we’re screwed
My fantasy baseball keeper team is better than Boston. I just traded Elly Cruz for Christian Encarnacion-Strand and 3 draft picks. I traded Yoshida and Glasnown for Bryan Woo and picks(this deal was made before keeper lists were sent in) After keeper lists were sent in and exhausted, I made other trades including the Encarnacion deal. Maybe I should run the Bosox 🙂
Yoshida and Glasnow for Woo and picks and you think you should be a GM? hahaha
That’s it Red Sox – sign a pitcher whose stats are good from a pitcher—friendly ballpark. Would go nicely with your Coors-inflated signing of Story.
His stats weren’t fantastic with the Mets either. And there’s no indication they’ve signed him yet…
I think your take on Story is way off, but we will see this year.
This is the guy I’d like the Diamondbacks to get.
Looking at his career FIP, I would not mind if we passed on this guy. He kooks good but not great
Braves, Diamondbacks, Red Sox—
“LEGGO MY LUGO!!”
I am so tired of these “…have interest in….” headlines. Lazy journalism. A fifth grader could write that..
I need a whole lot more meat and potatoes in an article to satisfy my baseball appetite than so-and-so has interest in so-and-so.
Frankly, MLBTR writers would be better off not writing anything at all instead of that drivel.
It’s called MLB trade RUMORS.
Skiiggy – And your point is? Backup is spot on. The articles right now are all crap. Maybe the writers should stop quoting guys making stuff up and simply write about what they think and let people criticize their preferences rather than innocuous suggestions made by other writers supposedly.
Lmao I thought you were serious until I saw your name
MLBTR writers would be better off not writing anything at all
=======================
And one might suggest that the readers would be better off not reading some of these articles.
I agree that some are ridiculous, like “team abc met with Ohtani”. 15 teams will meet with him. We don’t need 15 articles. But that said, I didn’t read the Ohtani might’ve met with TO, and I didn’t read the Ohtani met with the LAD articles. Just ignore the articles that you have no interest in.
Joe – It always cracks me up when people complain about columns they don’t like.
Do those same people go into stores and complain to the manager about products being sold that they would never buy?
Do they go into restaurants and complain about items on the menu they would never eat?
It’s actually kinda concerning how so many people don’t give a crap about what OTHER people may enjoy or want. Yes Ohtani gets a lot of mentions here, that’s because interest in what’s happening with him is sky high.
I keep reading about major retail chains doing away with self-checkouts because some people “don’t like using them” …. even though every store that has self-checkouts also has cashiers. This world is getting more selfish and self-centered by the day.
I see that a lot on Fox. There will be ab article about Miley Cyrus, for example, and there will always be someone writing “You consider this news!?”
And I’m like “you’re in a section entitled “entertainment news”. What did you expect?
doing away with self-checkouts because some people “don’t like using them”
===========================
Let them use cashiers. Less wait time for me.
Joe – Exactly! I don’t like using cashiers because I don’t want their hands on my stuff, I don’t want to wait in a long line, and I can scan and bag a lot faster than them.
Also with the labor shortage as it is, where are these stores gonna find the extra help to be cashiers? Nobody wants to work. Even if there’s more stealing going on with self-checkouts, the added cost of more cashiers would exceed the added shrink with shelf-checkouts anyway.
THIS is the guy they’re pulling out all the stops for. This team is screwed
Pedro my man, don’t be serious!!! How can you think that with MY GUY still out there!!!”70”
olmtiant – Just think, some lucky team can have BOTH Bras and Ort!!!
Only in America, living the dream.
OMG!!!!!! True!!! Can you say Mariano and Trevor!!! Keep up the great posts nation!! I know I’m like a calculator with no batteries, just hope I can make us grin once in a while!!!
olmtiant – I’m such an old type of calculator that I don’t need batteries, I’m an abacus.
What about Julio Lugo?
Dig – No jokes about recently deceased players please.
Exciting
dombrowski – Why did you sign Sale to an extension so quickly?
Fever – He signed one of the best pitchers in baseball and the guy who started the previous two all-star games to a five year deal because the team was coming off a World Series victory and Sale was to be a free agent in 2020. Like most GMs he didn’t want to try to get an extension in the year he was to become a free agent so he offered a five year $145MM contract to one of the best pitchers in baseball after paying him a mere $39.5MM for his first three years in Boston. AAV of $13.3 for 3 years and an AAV of $25.6MM for five years
Damn cheap for a stud starter who fell prey to Cora and his ridiculous concepts on pitching. DD got fired for Cora’s mistake in many people’s minds but I still think he got fired for wanting to sign Mookie to a fair market value contract and ownership wanted Mookie and Price gone.
No telling but DD did the right thing given what we know about the facts of the situation. Sale’s arm was no different than we he came to Boston and Sale was an elite pitcher 1 year away from Free Agency. It made and still makes perfect sense unless you believe Cora’s lies about how Sale was hurt.
SO tell me, you believe Cora’s lies? Do you believe he didn’t cheat in Boston? Do you believe he didn’t cheat in Houston?
Come on Fever you are better than this. Cora fabricated Sale’s injuries in 2018 to rest him because he thought he was a smart guy who could avoid having Sale get dead arm like he did in Chicago. It backfired and like the slimebag he is Cora made it look like Sale was hurt not that he f’d up. Typical Cora the teflon man. He should have been fired in April 2018 and every day he’s been a manager in Boston.
Not a DD mistake and not a Sale issue. The three years of Sale that were lost are ALL ON CORA the TERRIBLE.
Fired up…
Always appreciate Lugo for being a solid soldier for the Mets out the bullpen for so many years. In 2016 it was Gsellman and Lugo who provided much needed starts for the Mets in their Wild Card run that season. When Lugo is on, his stuff is nasty. Hope he signs a good deal and stays healthy!
I still want to believe that the Sox are going to pulls all levers to land Yamamoto, so would consider this the ‘mid-tier’ guy Breslow was talking about.
While he isnt the guy I would go for, I will trust Breslow and Bailey to have better insight on him than I do.
But if this his ‘Big’ play, there will be pitch forks and torches waving in The Nation!
DBH – Have faith my friend! In Breslow we trust.
I know I’m always very optimistic, but rest easy … the Sox WILL acquire a #1 starting pitcher.
I am keeping faith, bro. I believe in Holy B Trinity… in the name of Boston, Breslow, and Bailey, amen!!!
DBH – Don’t forget the Killer B’s …. Brooke Burke!
Just read in MLB that Yamamoto and Lugo are Breslow’s targets!
DBH – Just remember, you heard that here FIRST!!!
Fever – How about actual facts that support his abilities rather than the same BS many did with Bloom and were wrong.
The proof is in the pudding. He needs to do something right to get compliments and Lugo doesn’t fit a need so that would be a negative choice on his part.
Fill the damn holes first. Move the bum off 3B to DH. Go get a top flight SP. Then we can believe in Breslow. After Bloom, this blind faith crap is simply crap.
TF – Breslow has a clean slate, I’ll believe in him until/unless he gives me reason not to!
I’m just grateful Krapler wasn’t hired, I’d seriously puke if they did.
Fever – You didn’t drink the Cool=Aid with Bloom and you shouldn’t with Breslow. Let the man prove himself and EARN our respect. I did what you are doing with Bloom and see where it got me!!! Can’t do it twice.
I’m like a Missourian and I need proof that he’s good not hope. Show me Breslow!!!!!!!!
TF – Innocent until proven guilty.
God Bless America!!!
Fever – Cart before the horse…. doesn’t work.
Do something right, then we praise him.
mehhhhhhhhhhhhhh – I would say…don’t do it which pretty much aligns with Sox fans posting here.
I like Seth, but think he’s the type of pitcher who needs more of a pitcher’s park to be helpful. I could be wrong, but not sure if Fenway is a great fit for him.
Im fine with Lugo on 2 year deal as a 3/4 type… considering on our current mlb staff..most would only slot a very unproven bello and injury risk sale ahead of him
Pool – What happened to using farm players as the bottom half of the staff to develop a deep pitching reservoir? Houck, Bello and Crawford need to be given a chance to develop and that can happen with two top flight SPs not a huge risk guy like Lugo. Maybe we should sign Paxton too? NOT!!!
Fill the holes Breslow then get the complimentary pieces where there is a need for depth. This is a simple process.
Bello and Crawford are already starters so they are a moot point. Houck’s 1st, 2nd, and 3rd time thru the order:
.575 OPS
.709
.957
That and the fact that he might be our closer as soon as next year. If it were up to me, and someone wanted to overpay, I’d seriously consider trading Jansen and making Houck our closer in 2024.
Joe – I know you don’t like Houck and you always point to the same BS.
We have a new head pitching coach that might fix his issue immediately or maybe decide like you that he should be a closer.
Lets look at facts now since that’s what drives my opinions:
2020 Houck is brought up to start 3 games for Boston. He goes 3-0 with a 0.53 ERA and a 0.882 WHIP. That was outstanding!!
In 2021 he gets 13 starts and 5 relief appearances His ERA is 3.52 and his WHIP is 1.13 which again is an excellent season. He closes 2 games and gets 1 save so he is incredibly versatile.
In 2022 the MORON known as Cora chooses to move him to the bullpen. It makes absolutely no sense since he’s a long time starting pitcher with the exception of a stint in 2019 at AAA where he was tested as a late inning reliever. In 2020 they went back to starting him and he’s done it ever since until the IDIOT Cora chose to move him to reliever when he was their best young starting pitcher. He pitched in relief in 2022 and put up a 3.15 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. So the former top starting pitching prospect goes to the pen to be the closer of the future and Bloom signs Kenley Jansen for the 2023 season.
That completely fs up Houck’s career path and once again he is returned to starting rather than relieving so he has to lengthen his arm to be able to handle the innings. This is the type of change the idiot Yankees did with Joba Chamberlain. and it killed his career.
In 2023 as a starting pitcher he throws over 100 innings for the first time since 2019 when he was at AA and AAA. He had a bad year. What was working as a reliever wasn’t working as a starter and a weak pitching coach did nothing to fix the situation.
So now, in 2024 you want to send him back to the bullpen. You must really hate Houck to force him to change everything up for a 3rd time. He deserves better than that. He doesn’t lack talent as he proved when he came up as a starter and excelled. There is absolutely no reason he won’t excel once again at being a starter especially with a better pitching coach.
Jansen is old and his contract is up at years end. Hader should be the pitcher we seek after we land Yamamoto because it means the team will be competitive so having a righty and lefty combo of Jansen and Hader would be daunting to other teams. Also, you can let Jansen move on if you sign Hader for 4 years. That way there is continuity in the pen as the team improves.
Houck is highly competitive so he will excel at SP or RP but the team can’t keep bouncing him back and forth. He was better than Bello and Whitlock when he came to the majors as a starter and I believe that can be the case in 2024. Having great depth at starting pitching is far more important than having great depth at relief as we approach the 2024 season. Quality SPs are far more difficult to pick up in FA or trades than relievers.
Joe, Cut Houck some slack. He’s the most talented young pitcher we have and if he’s a starter we have a chance to win more games than if he is a reliever.
Trollfree3 hours ago
Joe – I know you don’t like Houck and you always point to the same BS.
============================
Did you deduce that from the fact that I suggested trading Jansen and making Houck the closer?
Joe – No I have a pretty good memory and I believe you’ve gone on and on about each time through the rotation. I believe I’ve pointed out many SP experience the same phenomenon
So let me rephrase…. Joe – I know you don’t like Houck as a starter and you always point to the same BS.
You like him as a closer so he’s not going to sit in the minors or be wasted. That’s good. I love his mentality as a closer and like Smoltz I think he could do both but I think we need more SPs at this point in time than RPs.
My apologies for suggesting you didn’t like Houck in all aspects of pitching..
Didnt we just try that pretty much every year under bloom?..worked great didnt it
Pool – Agreed EXCEPT the top 2 SPs to fill the gap where Sale and Price used to be have been crap SPs under Bloom.
You can only use the farm system guys if Breslow can land a TOP FLIGHT SP or 2 otherwise you are 100% right. We fixed nothing.
Lugo is a good add. Kind of like Houck and Whitlock in flexibility. I do also want a couple of 25-30 starts pitchers beyond what’s there now.
I would be happy to see six guys get 25 starts.
How did Houck and Whitlock do last year?
God help us if this is their “something big” new year same BS
Lol easy brother aside from nola and gray nothing has really happened
Chaim Bloom 2.0 from a guy who was not even on the radar because no one wanted to come to Boston. This is going to be a long year.
On a two year deal its probably ok but anything over that coupled with his age and lack of success as a starter (sans one season) and you have a recipe for disaster
He’s definitely going to hold out for 3 years given the demand for starting pitching right now.
How Chaim Bloom-like. Perhaps feeling discouraged with the initial Yamamoto talks? Last place, four out of five years?
So the Texas Rangers really smart GM just signed Kirby Yates. Brelow could have bolstered the bullpen with this move. Yates was dominant then got hurt and it cost him 3 years. In 2023 he came back to form with 60IP and 35 hits allowed and 37 walks allowed. Fix the walks and his 3.28 ERA and 1.19 WHIP would look pretty damn good with Martin and Kenley. They still would need a lefty reliever but the bullpen would have a guy whose performance will be higher than his cost and that’s what is most important.
Come on Breslow. Lay off the Lugos and find some real talent and book it NOW!!
Sorry I forgot to mention it cost $4.5MM to get a top flight reliever which is half the price of the guy Breslow didn’t non-tender in Verdugo!!! See the GMs really need to be money smart too not just talent smart.
Still waiting on Breslow for any signs of being good at either!!
TF – Breslow is wicked smaht!
Fever – Then have him show us all. As much as we want to take your word on it, after Bloom I MUST see it to believe it.
To me you are describing Breslow and Cora when you say wicked smart. Breslow smart and Cora wicked!!
This is not a guy I would want to heavily pursue unless he is cheap. Age a factor and stats all over the place.
Breslow, you need top pitching, a number 1 & 2 guy. Lego is a 4th or 5th guy at best and for the first time he threw 146 innings. He is also over 30 too. I think he had 46 the year before. Are you kidding me ? Breslow is looking for bargains at the buffet table two days later. This guy is on the same mold as Chaim Bloom. This is going to be a real long year in Boston