The Red Sox have made clear throughout the offseason that adding to the club’s starting rotation is their top priority this winter but MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reports that Boston’s pursuit of rotation arms hasn’t stopped them from looking elsewhere, even beyond their reported pursuit of outfielder Teoscar Hernandez. Per Cotillo, the Red Sox also have interest in righty reliever Robert Stephenson and infielder Amed Rosario, though Cotillo goes on to caution that it’s uncertain how strong the club’s interest is in either player.
Rosario, 28, made his big league debut for the Mets in 2017 and was essentially a league average starter at shortstop in Queens and (after being included as part of the return package for Franciscor Lindor) Cleveland from 2019-22 as he slashed .282/.315/.412 while playing defense that fluctuated from above average to well below average on a year-to-year basis. 2023 was something of a down year for Rosario, as he slashed just .265/.306/.369 with brutal defensive numbers in 92 games for the Guardians before being swapped to the Dodgers midseason, with whom he saw significantly reduced laying time. In all, Rosario finished the season with a wRC+ of 88 and just 0.2 fWAR, the worst full season of his career. Rosario clocked in as the 39th free agent on MLBTR’s annual Top 50 MLB free agents list, where we projected him for a two-year, $18MM deal.
Despite Rosario’s many flaws, he’d nonetheless be a sensible addition for a Boston club that got the second-worst production in the majors from the keystone last season. Even Rosario’s .263/.305/.378 slash line from last season would be a significant improvement over the .240/.286/.376 slash line Red Sox second baseman posted in 2023, and Rosario performed solidly on defense at second base in 36 games with the Dodgers at the position last year, his first taste of the role at the big league level. While Rosario may not be the most impactful free agent available on the market, the Red Sox would shore up their depth at a clear position of need by adding him and would do so without blocking the club’s top infield prospects such as Marcelo Mayer and Nick Yorke from playing their way into the big leagues later in the year.
Stephenson, on the other hand, is coming off a much stronger platform season. The 30-year-old right-hander was a first-round pick in the 2011 draft by the Reds and made his big league debut as a starter back in 2016. Stephenson struggled badly in the role for parts of three seasons in the majors before eventually converting to the bullpen full time in 2019, where he found more success. The righty posted a 3.76 ERA (125 ERA+) and a 3.63 FIP in his first season as a full-time reliever, and after being limited to just ten innings of work during the shortened 2020 season was traded to Colorado in exchange for Jeff Hoffman. Stephenson’s first season with the Rockies went exceptionally well, as the righty posted a 3.13 ERA with a 3.63 identical to that of his 2019 campaign.
Stephenson struggled in the 2022 season, which he split between the Rockies and Pirates, and started off 2023 on a rough note by allowing nine runs (eight earned) in just fourteen innings for Pittsburgh. Stephenson’s fortunes quickly turned when the calendar flipped to June and the Pirates shipped him to the Rays, with whom he would have the most dominant stretch of his career. After changing his pitch mix to replace his slider with a cutter as his primary breaking ball, Stephenson struck out an incredible 42.9% of batters faced during his time with the Rays while walking just 5.7%. The top-level run prevention numbers are just as impressive, as the righty posted a 2.35 ERA and 2.45 FIP across 38 1/3 innings of work with the Rays this year. That strong production led MLBTR to rank Stephenson as the offseason’s 27th-best free agent, with a prediction of a four-year, $36MM deal.
That being said, the fit between Stephenson and Boston isn’t quite as clean as it is with Rosario. The Red Sox boasted a strong bullpen in 2023 anchored by veteran right-handers Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin, to say nothing of solid campaigns from the likes of Josh Winckowski and John Schreiber. Such a solid mix of righties in the club’s bullpen leaves the Red Sox seemingly unlikely to outbid bullpen-needy teams such as the Rangers, Astros, Cardinals and Cubs for Stephenson’s services. That being said, Cotillo suggests that the Red Sox may see a Stephenson signing as a method to leverage that bullpen depth and work out a trade of Jansen, Martin, or Schreiber. Speculatively speaking, a deal packaging a top relief arm like Jansen or Martin with a young outfielder like Wilyer Abreu or Jarren Duran could be enticing for a club with starting pitching depth available such as the Astros or Marlins that likely needs to improve other areas of the roster.
Their interested in everybody, most interested team in the league
Nah they need to forget about these guys & sign Jordan Montgomery instead. Big mistake!
Captain, we disagree on our teams but we agree again here. I’m still of the belief they’re still in on Montgomery and that he’s waiting on them. It’s too obvious of a marriage given his wife is working in a Boston hospital. I also think they should contact Simmons who just retired about playing one more season. Forget his bat, Simmons can still play the field well enough to improve the infield defense.
@dewey- definitely agree with you. Monty is definitely worth $192.5 for 7 years($27 million a year) for the Red Sox or the Yankees. Hopefully it happens, obviously a lot of fans are just clueless on here unfortunately.
Signing Montgomery to a large contract will be the mistake. He’s the sexy name right now and as much as the red Sox aren’t doing much, I don’t disagree with passing on large contracts for him or snell. We don’t need our own rodon
TI: I certainly don’t want Montgomery at what Boras is probably asking now. He is probably asking 8 years/$240M or more now.
If that’s true, he’s not getting all of that $ regardless. Monty is not an ace. He’s a #3 who could probably be a #2 at times. It all depends on what teams he’s pitching against. A 7 year deal is not out of question, maybe the 8th year could be a team option.
Thomar that title of most interested club is still Toronto lol
I’m not the least bit interested in Rosario. I’d play Rafaela at 2nd before I signed Rosario. Hell I’m looking a Nick Yorke in ST.
I will be so pissed if the trade raphaela. I feel like he can solve any number of their issues and he’s cheap.
They’re challenging Toronto for the title of being in on everyone (they don’t sign).
Just blablabla!! Fk AA team
Enough of the interest, sign somebody!
I guess I got a bad read on Robert Stephenson
Curly, I agree, one hit Tampa wonder from the looks of it.
Was the one bright spot on my fantasy team though.
If Stephenson was the one bright spot on your fantasy team, it must have been a long season for you.
Curly, Robert could bring a Treasure of talent to Boston.
Insane, I just wonder if he can sustain what he did in Tampa. I think it’s pretty common knowledge that when they let relievers go they’re never the same.
Full throttle…of a moped.
Well- Sawx cryptic roster strategy these past three seasons has resulted in an entire roster of somebody’s / mismatched jigsaw puzzle pieces..
Go Cubs Go!!!
Full throttle lol
Please no on Rosario. We would be better off signing Merrifield. Rosario is just that- average. Catches one hot streak in the year and coasts the rest. Or maybe that was the other Rosario but they’re eerily similar when it comes to stats. One hot streak makes you look good average wise but only makes you good one month of the season and a liability the rest.
And Robertson has a career 4.69 FIP. I thought we were trying to improve pitching?
Teoscar I think would be a great addition but he’s a luxury since we need help elsewhere.
Rosario will hit for average one way or another, but his fielding leaves much to be desired. I’m normally one of his biggest supporters, but he literally did nothing last year after the Dodgers acquired him. If I had to sign him, 2 years would be the max.
Merrifield is older and had more WAR last year but in all honesty, both had under 1 WAR, which is bad. We are better off starting Pablo Reyes for second base than overspending for a free agent who will barely put up a single WAR.
Can I interest you in a slightly used Jorge Polanco for your 2B needs? Or maybe a Kyle Farmer is more your price?
Teo is a good signing for the RH power need, but also it frees up Duran, Wylmer or Rafalea to be sent to MIL for Burnes. Or CLE for Bieber.
And Merrfield > Rosario by a hair due to Def consistency.
Stephenson killed it with the Rays, however it’s Tampa and Tampa does things differently. I think he will definitely outperform the 4.69 FIP but he won’t be sub 3 like he was at Tampa either. He will regress a bit to his mean. What is a 3.50 FIP worth? That feels like a decent projection. 5M AAV seems smart to me, I would not do this at 9M AAV it’s not a weakness we need to overpay to fix.
So when does all the interested in junk stop and they start signing people? Full throttle is looking more and more like a total joke!
Just like ownership, “Full Throttle” sounds more make believe, like a book, video game or movie title.
“Full Throttle: The Motion Picture,” starring John Henry and Tom Werner. Also starring Craig Breslow and Alex Cora. Special guest appearance by Sam Kennedy.
He said he’d rev the engine. Nothing was said about putting it in gear.
For as quiet as the Sox have been, I would’ve been happy to hear about an MiL signing
Would like Stephenson for the Angels even more than Hader. Simply because there contract demands. That’ll leave a little extra coin for a TOR SP. Then let’s play ball.
Sox better hurry up before the Jays sign Rosario. I heard he’s on a plane to Toronto right now.
Let it land with Rosario in it.
Old – He’ll never get through customs trying to smuggle all that lead in his glove.
Watch me rush…
Not really trying to climb out of last place I guess.
Red have interest in being interest. Sign no one. But they are interested in interest.
Interesting.
Not really.
Rosario is the kind of IF they’re trying to get away from. Unreliable defense and spotty bat. Pass please
You can’t deny he’s way better than Yu Chang. I think Rosario is worth signing just as an insurance policy against Chang finding his way back onto the roster.
But Chang got glove
It all depends on Story. If he rebounds, Chang or Simmons out of retirement would be fine. If Story is again a bust be it injury or production at the plate, the team isn’t going anywhere. Such assumes starters come from somewhere as well.
dewey – You’re saying the fate of the 2024 Red Sox season hinges solely on Story?
Why are you trying to get us all depressed right before New Year’s Eve?
I think it’s time to call up Nick Yorke before signing Rosario. Also, Rafaela played some 2nd base last year if Yorke struggles let’s see what Rafaela can do. If Mayer impresses there’s also the possibility of moving Story back to 2nd and have Mayer stay up. I know that’s unlucky but if he has a good spring I’m considering it.
The Red Sox under both Bloom and Breslow have NOT leaked who they are signing, so the information about who they are talking with must be coming from agents or sports writers throwing crap on the wall.
Is there a single free agent the Red Sox have not been ‘interested in’? I personally ignore all the bs until someone is actually SIGNED. MLBTradeRumors is posting rumors (as their name implies). I guess the sources of all these ‘rumors’ can not be responsible for the fact that the Red Sox are just fickle (or just disingenuous) as I do not believe they are ‘interested’ in everyone they happen to ‘talk’ to. Sometimes team talk to agents just to gauge the market and not because they are actually interested.
Much of what gets posted comes from SI and other sites. As you said JC, someone is putting it out there for one reason or another.
dewey – There are so many different reasons for leaks.
Teams trying to gain leverage by showing interest in several players.
Players trying to gain leverage by showing interest from several teams.
Both players and teams giving info to media in exchange for flattering articles.
Media making stuff up just for the attention.
Take it all with a grain of salt.
Media making stuff up just for the attention.
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In all fairness, while the writers are probably posting personal opinion about what the writer would like to see done, there is a closed loop aspect to this.
Teams want to attract publicity, writers want publicity, and fans like to read articles.
Joe – I agree with your second and third points, but not your first.
When that attention-seeking writer at that attention-seeking Dodgers fan site wrote that story about Ohtani signing with the Jays, that was NOT the type of publicity the Toronto Blue Jays wanted.
I don’t think any team has sold more tickets or gotten more viewers by simply pretending they were pursuing a player.
Agents can represent more than one player, like having Scott Boras call Breslow or see him in person means close to zero when it comes to narrowing down a single player. He probably represents half the league or at least it seems.
The only reason for today’s article is that I mentioned Rosario in one of the IKF articles as a way to keep leverage on Merrifield. That’s all a writer needs to hear to create an article.
I always looked at it as a matter of semantics. “Talked to”, “interested”, “checked in on” “engaged”, “linked to” all mean the same thing.
Different people us different words.
Yewed – Agreed. They just mix it up so it doesn’t sound redundant. They fail, because like you say, it all means the same thing….no results….no completed signing.
The interest kings
I’m so sick of this interest headline. Tell me what team ain’t interested in signing every F.A? Wether they’re willing to pay them their value is a whole other issue.
This isn’t news.
I’m tired of the Redsox cheap ownership. They need to sell the team. Because Sox are the 3rd grossing team in MLB but spend like T.B? Make it make sense. Pathetic!
Its a rumors site. Being interested is a rumor. You may be in the wrong place.
Speak – The ten teams with the lowest payroll in MLB aren’t interested in signing every free agent.
You may want to avoid this place until April if the offseason process is not to your liking, kinda like staying out of the kitchen until the meal is ready to be served.
Just wait until next year! We will get a new GM and go yard selling again instead of the mall! This is a ownership problem not a GM problem!
No one is signing anyone because everyone is going to the Dodgers. They’re the only team that cares anymore.
When you have 300 plus coming in from your local TV deal, you can do that and don’t care about the so called luxury tax.
The dodgers only win when no other team cares, didn’t you know that? Haha
2020 (60 games bs season)
Rosario doesn’t offer any more than Rafaela might at 2B. Hernandez would be the power bat the Sox need and Stephenson would be an ok addition to the bullpen
Rsox – If they get Stephenson, which pitcher goes?
Bello
Sale
Crawford
Pivetta
Houck
Whitlock
Bernardino
Martin
Jansen
Winck
Schreiber
Campbell
LHR
Campbell has options and injuries are always a factor (especially with Sale). It’s possible no one needs to go because at some point or another someone will probably be out anyway
They desperately need left-handed pitching in the pen, so maybe they move someone to find that pitcher.
Do you see value (money) in manipulating service time and spending more time developing so that the players are more productive when they do arrive on the MLB roster? So maybe the 8 million for a year of average Merrifield or Duval saves you a hypothetical 2o million in salary three years from now by delaying arbitration and the production for a player like Rafaela or Mayers is better when you do bring them up to be a major league everyday player.
Do you see value (money) in manipulating service time
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I agree. Too many teams are promoting guys too quickly. Most players will be better at age 28 than age 21, so why promote them at the age of 21 or 22, unless you are 100% sure, or unless you need them for a playoff hunt.
A year for Merrifield or Duvall is fine. A multi year deal for Rosario not so much.
Manipulating service time is less important for a team like Boston than it is for teams like the Rays, A’s or Pirates who know once free agency is looming that young star is gone.
Another benefit of pumping the brakes on pushing players is that you can inflate their numbers in MILB and increase their value, having not been exposed in MLB. But I understand why a deep-pocketed team like the Sox might be less concerned about service time. Rafaela does need more time. hitting and adjusting.
Prophet – Rafaela looked awesome as the lead-off hitter at age 22. He doesn’t need more time because his average dropped the last two weeks by nearly 100 points due to the pitchers he faced not any skill issue. He faced a stream of great pitchers just like the other 8 batters in the line-up that did no better. Boston collapsed in the last two weeks because they faced all-star level pitching in nearly every game.
This team is going nowhere in 2024 since Breslow hasn’t landed any pitching, he hasn’t moved Devers to DH and he hasn’t fired Cora. There is no reason not to set an outfield of Abreu in LF, Duran in CF and Rafaela in RF if they won’t let him take over 3B for Devers. That outfield costs under $3MM and their free agency years are 2028, 2030 and 2030 with Duran being the 2028. That’s the future Boston outfield until Anthony pushes out Abreu or Rafaela finally gets a shot at the infield. Then Abreu goes to right for Rafaela and Anthony plays LF.
You only keep players who are future stars down in the minors if you think they will not grow from the MLB experience. We’ve already seen both Rafaela and Abreu grow from the experience. They also need Rafaela’s and Duran’s speed to disrupt the opposing pitchers and catchers.
So pumping the brakes is NOT the answer for the Boston outfield. Give them the keys to the car and stand back!!
Service time is also no longer an issue. The new CBA changed things. These guys already have set dates for free agency and the numbers are far in the future. Boston will need to think about long term contracts around 2027 not now. Other than Duran the great young talent is due for free agency in 2030 or 2031 unless they achieve too much at the MLB level like being ROY then their Free Agency year might change.
Thanks for your thoughtful response…I don’t disagree with most of what you have written; it’s spot-on. Though, as I thought they would, they signed Giolition to a pillow contract.
Rafaela needs more time managing a strike zone, letting the ball travel, being more selective, and ambushing his pitch. He has elite speed and needs plate coverage to slash and run in Fenway’s pinball park. When you spray in Fenway, you dominate.
I’ll review the CBT rules; thanks for the heads up.
I’m curious whether:
1. Duran can grow defensively in terms of his routes and arm strength to transition to RF or whether Abreu has enough range to play RF in Fenway.
2. Can O’Neil play RF in 2024?
3. If they sign Teoscar, and he plays RF, and Rafaela stays in AAA for a few months, who plays CF when Duran sits against tough lefties?
4.. Is there any chance Rafalea is a super utility player (Betts in 2023) bouncing between CF, 2b, and SS, or will they plant in CF for the next six years?
5. Where does Anthony project in the OF?
6. If O’Neil returns to 2021 form and wants to stay in Boston, would you consider trading young OF for pitching?
I do not understand the Sox. They need pitching yet sign none. They do not need position players, yet continue to seek to add position players. All solutions for the positions are already in-house: Rafaela to Short (he is a SS/CF not 2B/CF), Story to 2B. Story plays a great 2b! Pablo off the bench.
Or
Pablo at 2b, Rafaela off the bench.
Outfield… well you can only play 3 at a time, so any mix will do. I guess the other 4 outfielders can play spades during the game.
PITCHING PITCHING PITCHING. It is all that we need right now.
Reevaluate at the trade deadline. Jettison those that suck, address everything else in June to August.
Another or… pablo/dalbec to 3rd, Devers to DH
Rafaela needs more time learning to hit, don’t rush this gem.
IMO, I wouldn’t promote Rafaela, Yorke, Mayer or Anthony until August at the earliest.
Joe – Early July would make more sense. Team needs to know what they’ve got BEFORE the trade deadline, so they can determine what kind of help they are looking for. Remember Devers was brought up shortly after the All-Star break, after Panda was let go.
That is of course assuming they are still in contention by that time.
Rafaela is the only one of those you named that could start the season with them, depending on how he looks in ST. He got a really long look last ST and September, he’s definitely a few months ahead of the others.
It looks like Mayer and Yorke are both starting the season in AA. Not sure if they will get promoted to Boston next year.
I think it’s highly likely that Yorke starts in AAA Worcester. The only way that doesn’t happen if they send Valdez back to AAA and want him to continue to work on his 2nd base defense then they would keep Yorke at AA but if Yorke looks good in spring training they won’t keep out of Worcester.
Bruin: Agreed that Yorke could start the season in AAA. He hasn’t been promoted yet. Do you think he is ready to be promoted to AAA? I would feel better if his OPS was over .800 in AA, but I guess his .785 OPS could be considered worthy of a promotion.
Everyone responding to Prophets inaccurate statement:
Rafaela has nothing to prove in the minors. He’s been there done that and succeeded. He got his feet wet at the MLB level by hitting lead off at age 22. That’s remarkable. He started out fast as he faced average pitching and then struggled when he faced great pitching. So did Devers. So did Yoshida and all the other hitters. That’s why Boston won 7 games during their last 8 series!!! You can’t hold it against the 22 year old for not out-performing the regulars when they were getting beat up. Abreu ended higher than Rafaela because he got many of the games off against elite pitchers so he didn’t drop as fast as Rafaela. Both should be applauded for how well they did. They both proved they could cut it at the MLB level and deserve to start the season in the opening day line-up.
As for guys like Mayer, Yorke and pretty much everyone other than Anthony, they are not MLB ready. They probably don’t have MLB talent. Maybe they will be league average players but the stars of the farm system have graduated with the exception of Anthony. The other guys are PERFECT for trades before they do like Downs did and exhibit the fact that they are pretenders not top prospects.
Dump Yorke. He played well in 2021, badly in 2022 and average in 2023 at Age 21 in AA. He’s nowhere near ready for MLB pitchers. And when he arrives he’s going to be a league average or slightly above league average player not an all-star so Boston can play him for years until he gets too expensive in arbitration years, then DFA him OR they recognize his limited upside and deal him when he gets hot in 2024 to upgrade something at the MLB level.
Mayer also is highly over-rated based on being the 4th pick in the draft. He’s performed like a player taken after the 5th round of the draft. His numbers resemble a guy who might be a long-shot at best to be an all-star in the MLB but 4th picks should always look like future all-stars when in the minors and he doesn’t. So, let him prove his body has recovered from the injury and move him before people figure out his value is highly over-stated on prospect reports. Deal him just like DD dealt Moncada. Get pitching or a 3B because those are our biggest weaknesses.
Joe – You are half right. Rafaela may win ROY so he needs to be up to start the season and Anthony just needs to start fast and he should be up by the end of May. Yorke and Mayer need to be traded before their value falls any further. Bloom missed out on dealing Downs when he had a high value and the great move by Bloom ended in a DFA. DD moved Moncada before the White Sox could realize his #1 ranking was a joke. That was brilliant. Breslow needs to do the same with Mayer and Yorke. Neither is close to living up to first round billings so by next year they will start dropping rapidly in the prospect ratings. People like those who commented here will say Breslow hurt the farm system because it’s dropping but it’s really just reality sinking in that what Bloom did was hurt the farm system with his poor picks and trades. Breslow got a much worse farm system than Bloom inherited. Hopefully Breslow takes a page out of DD’s book on how to be a great GM and trades the pretenders for thing the MLB team needs.
Few people are suggesting they play Rafaela at 2nd. No way…keep him AAA and let him continue to improve his bat-to-ball skills. Delaying his service time has value in terms of his on-field production and the Sox’s ability to spend money on free agents in 2025-29. I’d use pillow contracts on players like Merrifield and Duvall to delay the arrival of top prospects and then flip these guys at the trade deadline. I agree with signing average SPs (Lorenzen, Paxton…. and Sale). The Red Sox need to use their big market money to build movable assets to keep the building process moving forward while playing decent enough baseball to keep flirting with a wild card and the depth to protect their pitching. They are not ready to sign big contracts for players in their mid-30s when Mayer, Teel, and Anthony are here. That’s when you spend big.
Rosasio or Merrifield is worth exploring. I’m interested to look more closely at Roasio’s defensive numbers at 2nd at LAD. It would be best to have a defensive range player at second base (limited shift) and the ability to stand in the pivot and turn a double play, especially in Fenway, where failure to turn two can punish your team quickly.
If the Stephenson interest is legit, I think this might have to do with a package for one of Seatle’s controllable pitchers. Duran (5 yrs), Houk (5 yr), Mata (6 yrs, out of options), and maybe York. I’m not sure Woo or Bryce Miller is worth this amount when you can pay short money at 10-12 million for a 5th starter like Paxson Lorenzen type to buy time for the the next wave of Sox prospects.
Well said. I don’t post much any more but read these forums a lot. It’s getting tiresome to hear how the Sox should drop $30M a season on every big name free agent. Every time they sign a big contract all you hear on here after is how horrible it is.
The team doesn’t have a foundation of home grown players yet and trading away the potential ones to bolster a mediocre roster will leave us treading water for another 5 years.
Let the young guys prove who has what it takes to stick. Once the foundation is in place build on it with trades and free agents. Sign the home grown talent to long term deals while they’re still young like a well run organization does.
Please stop begging for them to sign Montgomery or some other over priced FA. You’ll just be on here complaining about the money and length of the deal next year.
I agree on a Montgomery-type contract that is long in years and money. I still think they should spend money on free agents to make this team competitive and delay some prospects’ arrival.
Regarding starting pitching, I’d spend money on Gialitto and two pitchers like Lorenzen, Paxson, Clevinger, and Montas. I’d entice Gialito with an opt-out clause after two seasons with the first two at 20 million a season. The Sox have a decent stable of piggy-back options (Houk, Whitlock, and Crawford) to protect Sale, Paxton, Lorenzen, Turnbull, and Montas types from a 3rd time through the order. Last year, the Sox burnt out an overachieving bullpen because they had NO starting pitching depth. Don’t chase a #1 or #2 starter with big money, but go with a six-man rotation, Keep these guys healthy, and avoid the declining numbers of the third time through an order. In July, eat some salary, add a prospect, and target small market assets that want to chase the wild card but need veteran starting pitching. Shift Houk and Crawford back into the rotation and call up some of the arms they are developing and targeted in recent trades to fill the bullpen vacated by Huk/Crawford. This strategy will give the Sox development time to work with Houk and Crawford on a new pitching philosophy from Breslow/Bailey while pitching 2 to 3 innings every four days for the first half of the season.
In short, the distance between the Sox and the Dodgers, O’s, Rangers, Astros, and maybe Yankees is too great to spend aggressively on any one player; the Sox have the field players in the system to come in steady waves over the next four years, so use the big market money to continue to game the draft, spend on depth in starting pitching, eat money in trades to gain more assets, and overpay for short “pillow” contracts for players who want a better year at decent money to leverage a better, longer contract and delay the arrival of our best prospects until they are truly ready to produce. (See Beltre)
“Once the foundation is in place build on it with trades and free agents. Sign the home grown talent to long term deals while they’re still young like a well run organization does.”
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I think that was Bloom’s plan. He almost had a foundation ready and they fired him.
Well, they just signed Gialito…good first step.
Prophet, All and Teddy – Wake up to reality.
All – Bloom sucked as a GM and tore down the foundation that DD inherited and built on. He should have been fired in Feb of 2020. FOUR WASTED YEARS!!!!
Teddy – I agree that the complaining seems inconsistent but to be fair we’ve had nothing good to write about for four years!!!
Guys like Giolito are NOT the answer. There are an elite set of players in baseball. Those elite players get divided up by the 30 teams and those teams with 4 or more of them win. Their price tags are irrelevant because some of these players are under control and some are expensive free agents. Their price tag is irrelevant when it comes to winning.
Hitters like Acuna, Julio Rodriguez and Ohtani are unique. They are a notch or two up from good players. To win you need the elite players.
Boston won with Mookie, Benny, JD, Bogaerts, Devers, Sale, Price, Eovaldi and Kimbrel. Four big hitters, three star starters and an excellent closer. The Red Sox now have Devers. That’s it. That’s their list since Sale isn’t Sale any more and Bloom got rid of all the all-stars except Devers. Yes Boston has an outstanding closer but it matters very little to a .500 team. The team can’t win until the talent level is added.
So how do you add talent without spending big bucks? YOU DON’T. You pick available ELITE players and build a six player foundation and then you add to it with home grown players like Casas, Rafaela, Abreu, Duran, Anthony. Guys who appear to have the potential to be the next group of all-stars on the Red Sox. Without the core six stars, the team will be mediocre. That’s why Breslow must spend big money to find the elite six we need.
Giolito isn’t ranked above Bello, Crawford or Houck if he is told he is a started and gets to prepare for being a starter in Spring Training. Giolito could surprise us if the new coaching staff can get him back to where he was 3 years ago but that’s a big if. We needed top of the line pitchers like Burnes not middle of the road pitchers like Giolito. Same with the outfield. There was no reason to get O’Neill unless somehow the coaching staff can also resurrect the hitter he was 3 years ago. If that happens, great but why put money into things that aren’t urgent?
Breslow needs to fix the defense and we all know that starts with Devers to DH. You can only do so much with winning if your 3B misplays 50 balls a year. If this team is to move forward and be successful it needs to also move on from Cora. He needs to be a distant vision in their rear view mirror. He has no managerial skills and he back-stabs the GMs so far. Breslow needs a Kevlar vest to stay safe from Cora..
So where should our six pillars be located?
C – Teel will be the inexpensive farm hand
1B – Casas will be the inexpensive farm hand
2B – BOSTON could go big at this position
SS – Boston is wasting $23.3MM on a poor hitting SS. They need to deal him for a more effective player. Mayer is not the answer but if Story can opt out after 2024 that would be a huge savings.
3B – SPEND BIG ON THIS SPOT
LF – Anthony / Abreu will be the inexpensive farm hands
CF – Duran is an inexpensive farm hand
RF – Rafaela is an inexpensive farm hand
DH – Devers a grossly over-paid farm hand that should be dealt if possible
SP1 – EXPENSIVE SP
SP2 – EXPENSIVE SP
SP3 – Last year of Sale then Bello an inexpensive farm hand
SP4 – Houck an inexpensive farm hand
SP5 – Crawford an inexpensive farm hand
SP6 – Giolito an expensive FA who needs to be fixed by the new coaching staff if he is to add value going forward
Long Relievers and Stress Inning – Pivetta in 2024 then he’s a free agent and Whitlock a player Bloom over-paid considering his years of control
Closer = Jansen for 2024. Need one for beyond 2024 They will cost $18MM a year or more for a proven one.
Set-up Lefties need to be procured. Ideally 2 for big lefty bats late in the game.
Set-up Righties – Martin and WInckowski
So the six pillars are:
1 – Devers at DH
2 – NEW 3B
3 – SP1
4 – SP2
5 – 2B
6 – Story unless we can trade him
These six spots should cost roughly $150MM per year.
That leaves 34 spots on the 40 man roster and 20 spots on the 26 man roster to be filled for $87MM per year.
Controlled players cost under $1MM and the opening day hitters should have 5 of the 9 positions filled with players costing less than $1MM a piece. The pitching staff if filled in properly by Breslow should cost under $90MM for the starters and $20MM for the relievers. So $110 for the pitchers and $127 for the hitters.
Remember, Owners make $300MM or more per year in profits of all aspects of the baseball organization. They make this if they spend $237MM on payroll. Anything less will increase their profits so I say spend the full CAP money to be the best possible team you can be. Breslow’s judgement on handing out contracts will be the key and so far:
1 – Giolito was an over-pay
2 – O’Neill was an over-pay
Can those over-pays be converted to good contracts with some great coaching and some luck? Yes. Is that a sound strategy for acquiring players? NOPE.
Thanks for the thought you put into your comment; here is my pushback:
Dave Dombrowski built a foundation Bloom destroyed ?…… Was this sarcasm? The system was nearly dead last in MLB when he was done.
O’Neil was an overpay…. that’s an absurd statement. His salary is peanuts, but his upside is not. It is his contract year… let’s see what happens. If he regains his form, I can guarantee his return in July will dwarf the marginal pitchers we gave up.
SP 6 is how you rate Giolito. It’s another bonkers assessment. You refer to three years for Giolito when he was outstanding for the first half of 2023 and 2021..
Giolito’s salary…look at all the contracts signed this year; his fits pretty securely in the market rates. The only contract that jumps out as having a better upside is Severino at one year and 13 million,
The RS strength will be its young outfield. That and speed. Trading from that is nonsense. Adding retread infielders is not the answer. Or adding right-handed outfielders to add power when an outfielder’s power doesn’t fit in Fenway. The RS will get more from Duran than such a trade. Sign Merrifield and be done with position players. Add free-agent pitchers of quality, but don’t trade away your strengths at this stage of reconstructing a line up.
I agree…The Sox should hold onto Duran and develop his defensive abilities. An outfield of Anthony-Rafaela-Duran and Abreu would be a core strength. I’m curious whether Duran can develop his arm accuracy and ability to use his core athleticism to improve his arm strength to transition to RF when Rafaela jumps to CF. His jump and routes will get better.
Do you prefer Duval for a year in RF/CF trading with Abreu and Duran or Teoscar in LF for two to three years, with Rafaela playing CF with Abreu/ Duran moving around the OF based on match-ups?
What is Abreu’s best outfield position?
Prophet – Rafaela is the key. He’s the best athlete in the group and can play many positions. Personally, I’d like him at 3B so Devers goes to DH but if he’s not going to play infield then he’s by far the best right fielder since Duran is the ideal center fielder. Abreu should start in left field until Anthony is ready and beats him out for the starting spot. Four excellent young controlled outfielders is a great advantage because it allow the big bucks to go to pitching and 3B.
Rafaela needs to find his way to CF. I would transition Duran to RF this year.
Devers, when focussed, can play adequate 3b., but your point is well taken, I wouldn’t waste Rafaela’s range at 3b base.
2025 you have Mayer at SS, Rafi at 3b, Story at 2b, and Casas at 1 B, OF is Abreu-Rafaela-Duran, and then Anthony. We’ll know more about Yoshida as a DH and selective LF after the 2024 season.
Only one solution here
John Henry please sell the red sox.
Absolutely no faith in this current ownership or front office.
Mr. Scarecrow ( John Henry) just sell the team please., and take the entire front office with you while your at it.
Its no surprise none if the blue chip GM’s wanted come to Boston., who want to be micromanaged? One of the richest teams in baseball and we cant spend money?
From front office down to Cora, just take a broom to them all! they all gotta go!
Significantly reduced “laying time”? Guess he’s bad at more than baseball
This whole “interest” thing is getting exhausting
Isn’t Rosario a defensive liability? Why would they be interested in him?
“Interested in” means we got nothing, so lets throw something out there and hope it sticks.
So, here’s the part the fanbase doesn’t know when they sign an executive; can the guy in question pull the trigger when it needs to be done? Bloom was too busy trying to outsmart the rest of baseball with his signings, who mostly proved to be mediocre, and dragging his feet at the deadline, but he did get the Devers deal done.
Breslow? Seeing lots of “thinking about it’ and “we like this guy’ signals. But other than dumping Verdugo not a heck of a lot of action. Maybe that will change, but it should be troubling. As numerous posters have noted, this is a high revenue team that draws fans from a six-state radius, all of whom pay a premium to either attend games or watch them on NESN.
PoisenedPens – Great points. Bloom was not qualified to be a big market GM and proved it from day 1 when he paid JBJ $11MM in Dec of 2019 rather than non-tendering him. After that, everything went down hill.
Breslow has been a mixed bag so far. Nice additions to the coaching staffs which is a critical aspect of his job but he’s ignored the two biggest problems. He hasn’t fired Cora and he hasn’t move Devers to DH. Neither costs money so they should have been done by now.
Dumping Verdugo’s $9.2MM contract on the Yankees is a huge plus in his favor. Verdugo’s pay got jacked up by Bloom during his arbitration years when Bloom bumped him too much in back to back off seasons.
We also have a DH depth problem. We have too much money invested in DHs. The $29.2MM against the cap by Devers and the $18MM against the cap by Yoshida means we will spend $47.2MM on DHs!! That’s 20% of our available money under the CAP being spent on DHs!!!
Keep Devers or keep Yoshida but you can’t keep both and effectively use your available money. I love the idea of trading Devers to STL for Arenado simply because the Arenado money is not extending into the future as long as the Devers money and Arenado is one of the greatest fielding 3Bs of all time. We would upgrade our 3B defense from worst to first. That’s a huge upgrade that will significantly impact games won.
Breslow scorecard needs to have multiple rows:
Coaching Staff – A
Manager – F
Defense – F
Acquisitions – D
Trading Dead Weight (Verdugo and Yoshida) – C (1 out of 2)
Upgrading Farm Talent – B
Upgrading MLB Talent – F
As time passes these grades will change. Hopefully, the Fs will be replaced by As. Hopefully, the redundant skills will be retooled to be more evenly distributed across positions.
Interesting point on Cora; he obviously holds a lot of power in the organization beyond the dugout, which isn’t an ideal situation for a new GM. Can he even be fired?
Devers – you get what you get. He’s a 1B. Baseball has hidden below-average fielders at first since the sport started. Heck, my softball team always put the fat guy who could hit at 1B!
But there’s almost zero chance that Arenado, with full no-trade protection would approve that type of deal. Or even that StL would make it without substantial other prospect resources going to them. They’re not going to move a generational player at his position for a guy whose usefulness is limited and they aren’t under any mandate to cut salary. O’Neill could have a nice bounce back at Fenway, but injured players normally can’t stop getting injured just by changing zip codes. Although the idea of a guy named O’Neill having a good season for the Sox is too tempting!
Poisoned ownership came out and said that Cora was going to be the manager in 2024 before Breslow took the job. Firing Cora is an ownership decision and it’s highly likely that is the reason more established seasoned guys didn’t want the job and ownership had to go with Breslow. As long as Cora is the manager Devers is going to be the third baseman. While I agree with troll that Boston would be better off having Devers as a DH it’s not happening this year and that’s not on Breslow it’s on Cora. I guess that Breslow can go the passive aggressive route and trade Devers but that’s highly unlikely and Cora probably has the power to nix that idea.
Who knows if there is another last place finish this year then maybe ownership finally addresses the Cora problem.
Rosario should not be a starter on the Red Sox roster.
I wouldnt be opposed to seeing them sign Whit Merrifield for 1 year with maybe an option year.