The Red Sox have signed catcher Roberto Pérez, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post. It’s a minor league deal with an invite to major league camp, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Cotillo adds that Perez will get a $1.4MM base salary if added to the roster.
Pérez, 35 next week, has been one of the better defensive catchers in the majors during his career but has hardly played recently due to the pandemic and significant injury issues. He has only played 102 games over the past four seasons and only 26 over the past two. He joined the Pirates for 2022 but only got into 21 contests before a significant hamstring strain required season-ending surgery. This year, he played five games for the Giants before shoulder surgery ended his campaign.
But as mentioned, he has a very strong reputation for his glovework in his career. He has racked up 80 Defensive Runs Saved since making his debut in 2014. The only catcher with more in that timeframe is Austin Hedges and his 86 DRS, though Hedges did so in more than 1,000 extra innings compared to Pérez. Pérez is also considered a strong framer by each of FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus and Statcast.
His offense hasn’t been as impressive. He did hit 24 home runs in 2019, but that was the “juiced ball” season and he’s never hit more than eight in any other season of his career. Overall, he’s hit .207/.298/.358, which translates to a wRC+ of 77.
The Sox currently have just two catchers on their 40-man roster in Connor Wong and Reese McGuire. Last month, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said that the club feels good with its catching situation, but Wong and McGuire are 27 and 28 years old, respectively. Pérez will come into Spring Training and serve as a respected veteran presence, while giving the club a bit of extra depth in a non-roster capacity.
Does Breslow know where the main holes in the roster are? He’s signing RPs and now a catcher… but we need a 2B and at least one SP…
Need 2 starters to be competitive. Poaching from the pen for the third year in a row is just going to give us a weak rotation, and weaker pen.
William – Nothing has changed yet. Crawford, Sale, Bello + 2 SP’s and then you’ve got 4 long relievers who can step into the rotation if a starter gets hurt or sucks. Lowe did it in 2004 and Eovaldi in 2018. It’s inevitable someone in the rotation will need to be replaced, or they go with a 6-man to accommodate Japanese pitchers.
We also had Pedro and Schilling 2 top tier Sp
Nick Pivetta pitched well down the stretch and will be in the mix.
Yamamoto would still be the best get but is probably unlikely. We’ve heard zero about if the Sox have any interest in Imanga. They missed out on Lugo which was probably for the best (is he really worth $15 mil per year?). I see them signing Lucas Giolito and maybe adding an additional starter on a minor league deal to compensate for a spot
Ms send Rojas (2B) & Woo (SP) & mid level prospect to Sox for Duran (lefty OF)
That would shore up some needs for both teams. Miller might be the better SP to get for the Sox, dude gives up a lot of oppo fly balls to righties.
I love for the Red Sox to deal for Woo.
People keep suggesting Seattle pitchers as if they’re at all looking to trade them for average at best players with limited to no experience in the majors…
Bryan Woo is literally an average at best pitcher with limited experience in the majors…
Fletcher, I disagree big time. Sure Woo has little experience in the Majors but so did Verlander, Cole, etc at one point. Woo is young and has good stuff.
Water – I think it is safe to say nobody knows for sure if he can convert his good stuff to success. E-Rod had good stuff and couldn’t put things together when in Boston. Last year to me was a aberration and Arizona paid a stiff price to realize how incredibly inconsistent E-Rod has been historically.
Woo has great potential. Gambling on him only happens if Seattle sees something on the Boston roster or farm system they like. Also, our team has lots of great young arms but no top of the rotation guys we can count on. There is no need for another young pitcher, there is a need for 2 studs. As much as Woo might work out, it’s better to take a proven commodity based on the state of the team and the division.
“Gerrit Cole was a rookie once so that means Woo will be just like him”
Sox already have a #5/swingman who can’t get lefties out
Troll – being a minor league depth signing, do you also agree Perez may have some value working with Teel?
Teel has a good bat, but the mentorship he can get from Perez based on his status as a pretty good defensive catcher can only pay dividends right?
Dare we say two birds with one stone, a backup depth option who also acts like an extra coach to an important building block – not unlike DD bring aboard JDM who also acted like a bonus hitting coach, just a much smaller scope impact?
And yet everyone salivates over him..
That’s just you buddy. Sounds like you drool all over yourself quite a bit anyways
Great point GASoxFan !! We already have our catcher of the future. He could just use a little mentorship from an outstanding defensive backstop. Makes total sense.
The reason is Seattle has to add offense one way or another. There are still upgrades to be had in free agency for Seattle but they have to add offense one way or another. It’s only natural to look at moving a pitcher for some offensive help.
They may have to go the trade route to meaningfully upgrade their offense. There is also the possibility that Snell who has been pretty outspoken of his desire about coming home, he’s from Seattle. If they do sign him then perhaps they can make Gilbert available that would bring back considerable offensive talent and he’d probably be the most valuable pitcher moved in this inflated pitching market.
If they don’t do that then I could see a guy like Woo being moved but it’s going to take more than Duran for that to happen. Woo has a fastball with elite characteristics he was rushed this year and his secondary’s are well behind his fastball but despite being rushed with only the elite fastball he held his own. He’s quite athletic and the thought is he will develop solid secondaries but Seattle isn’t giving him away. Still Seattle has to get offense somewhere and will probably have to take a chance at some point on moving valuable pitching that right now is peak value maybe ever.
GA – I like your thinking. I wonder if Breslow is actually thinking like we are when it comes to Perez. Maldonado could have fulfilled a similar role as well. Some depth moves are knowledge transfer decisions.
I think this move is less insignificant than some of Breslow’s other moves. We shall see but you are right that some guys do a great job with knowledge transfer like JD did.
Bruin1012 – I don’t think you see the Seattle roster the same way the GM does. He got rid of hitting. He believes he has hitting coming and he knows he has great pitching depth.
C Raleigh/Zavala – No need for help
1B France –
2B Moore/Urias
SS Crawford
3B Rojas
LF Canzone/Trammell
CF Rodriguez
RF Haggerty/Clase
DH COULD USE ONE
Their GM thinks things are close from a hitting perspective. He loves his young outfielders like we do. His infield and catching is set.
He could use a DH so Yoshida would be perfect to trade to him for a SP if he is willing to part with any of his young guys. It doesn’t seem likely but maybe. Why trade pitching if you think your hitting will be coming from the farm very soon. They have enough guys to use the DH spot to give players a rest. There is no urgent need for bats and our bats other than Yoshida don’t fit their needs.
Breslow has three things going for him:
1) he’s smart. He didn’t take some liberal arts degree, the guy majored in a pretty darn demanding field.
2) he actually played the game, and, in enough places with enough guys he learned a few things by seeing along the way
3) he wasn’t on the field a lot of the time every game so his ability to absorb, see things at a greater volume that worked and how/why it helped is a lot different too.
Who knows if he thinks anything like some of us, but, I’ll hope he does until I see really boneheaded decisions string together.
GA, I’d also add 4) He worked under Theo. There is a fair amount of success for the guys that followed Theo and Tito.
@Poop You do realize that’s an abysmal trade proposal you submitted. No way would the Mariners take just Duran for Woo + others. You have about one third of the value needed so far, so find the other pieces to go with Duran & then we’ll see.
Duran has quite a bit of value but I agree Woo would cost more than just Duran.
Bruin1012 – They don’t need Duran. Why give up an excellent asset like Woo for something you don’t really need. Your whole perspective on the trading is Boston biased. Teams trade to get things they perceive they need not things others suggest to them they need.
A DH could be a need or they could go out and get Turner or JD. I think Arizona will probably get JD so Turner may go to Seattle for about the price of Yoshida and put up better numbers!! Yoshida is expendable as a salary dump but if they can get something back for him as well that’s a bonus like they did with Verdugo.
The Red Sox don’t have any catchers on the 40 man roster aside from Wong & McGuire. They don’t even have any other catchers in their system with major league experience. If Perez is healthy, this is a quality depth signing, and that’s it. Cut Breslow some slack.
Duffy – True. Here is the needs list:
1 – Move Devers to DH (not done and not likely to happen)
2 – Add two top flight SPs (not done but hopefully in process)
3 – Acquire a 3B who can field and hit (Contingent on #1)
4 – Acquire a Lefty reliever/closer (not done but hopefully in process)
5 – Acquire a catcher to couple with Wong until Teel is ready ( DONE)
6 – Trade Verdugo (DONE)
7 – Trade Yoshida (Not done but can’t happen until after Yamamoto signs)
Duffy – We checked off one the items on the to do list so this is the second item on Breslow’s list to be completed. The rest have been incidental transactions with very, very little consequences.
Dude. This isn’t a video game. You’re saying you can’t move Masa, because it’s been established as a huge selling point for Yamamoto to play with a Japanese player. But then you suggest trading Masa immediately if Yamamoto signs with the Sox? Or even if you meant if he signs with another team then trade Masa, which is only slightly less dumb-you don’t think that’s a really bad look when trying to attract top international talent in the future? That kind of thing matters in the real world. You don’t dump one of the best hitters from Japan after just one bad half season. Also what do you think you’re gonna get for a guy who needs to at least half time DH and doesn’t hit for power making 20 million a year? If Sox did this they’d never sign another Japanese player. So dumb
Bob – That’s not exactly what I said. I don’t expect Yamamoto to sign with Boston but if he is being lured to Boston by Yoshida then trading him would guarantee we don’t get him. I’m saying keep him in play until Yamamoto signs. Not with Boston. With some other team because Boston has nothing to offer him except a friend in Yoshida. They have the weakest roster,, they have the weakest defense, they will lose the most games and their ball park is hitter friendly.
So dumb is to think that a culture drives the details of trades. We will get Japanese players if we offer them the best deals. It’s just that simple because it’s not a video game. Yoshida is not a great hitter from Japan. He was a great Japanese hitter facing Japanese pitchers. In the MLB he’s a league average or slightly above league average player. He can’t field and he doesn’t have much power. His game is OBP but his value is about $10MM per year not $18MM. That’s why he is another albatross contract that Bloom signed just like Devers and Story. $70MM spent on 2 DHs and a good defensive SS who has forgotten how to hit. Those are the players that need to be traded so each individual starting is someone who performs at a level above his pay. Devers isn’t going to do that. Story isn’t going to do that and Yoshida isn’t going to do that. Two of the three also can’t field which makes them an even bigger burden. Bloom screwed the roster for years.
Trading Yoshida is going to insult and entire nation of future MLB players living in Japan.? Are you insane? You want to talk about dumb!!! WOW. Dumping an over-paid Japanese player isn’t an insult to the country it’s baseball. You don’t get the concept of inclusion. Players are players and their performance dictates your actions not the country they come from. That’s pure ignorance on your part. If Devers can’t cut it at 3B it’s not an insult to his country any more than Story not cutting it would offend Americans. You have a great deal of racial bias and need to rethink your ideas about how to determine what to do about a player that is performing poorly. Race should not be part of that decision. It should be about performance.
Moving Devers to DH is not going to happen any time soon, nor should it. There is no one in the trade market who would be available to provide better defense and match Devers offensively. Chapman is the only one on the free agent market, but at his age, I expect his numbers to continue trending down and that contract is not worth it. I think if Marcelo Mayer continues to progress and arrives next year, they could give him a shot at third and see how it goes. But with Devers’ huge contract, I just don’t see them giving up on him at third so quickly and moving him to DH.
Also, Yoshida is not getting trade. He’s one year into a 5 year, 90 million dollar deal. He’s sticking around, as he should.
Troll – Nothing Bob said was racial bias, your reaching, and recklessly throwing race around.
For what it’s worth, your idea of manipulating players into long term multi yr commitments under false perceptions is deceitfully starting a new multi yr agreement and is morally questionable.
“…but Wong and McGuire are 27 and 28 yr old, respectively.”
Since when is 27 and 28 a bad thing?!
He’s signing RPs and now a catcher…
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So we shouldn’t sign minor league depth?
We we we. Are you guys on the roster or are you front office? Either way, comp me some tickets!
Lmk when you sign Montgomery and Giolito. These fringe moves can be made for the next 2 months.
I don’t mention Yamamoto because let’s be real… we’re not getting him.
The fact that we’re an allegedly major market team and the best we can hope for is Lucas Giolito. Kill me now!
We’re not anymore. We operate much more like the Cardinals than the Yankees these days. And I don’t see it changing under current ownership.
Wait until things pkay out. I’m not saying Boston will get anyone specific but if the purse is open, they can compete with any team on any player. Where does for example Yamamoto want to live? No one knows. Does he want to play with another Japanese star or not? No one knows. The NY clubs have the ability to keep spending but the cost will be near twice the contract value when adding the posting and tax fees. Such will continue to grow with subsequent signings each year until they at least reset the tax base. Such though becomes harder each year. Cohen earned his money making shrewd deals. He’s unlikely to continue spending without an expected return. If he doesn’t stop, another club like the Padres will end up in financial trouble. Not good for the sport in the long run. The old Mets ownership got in trouble due to Madoff. The Padres needed a loan because of their local cable situation. What’s next? The Dodgers plan of deferring may work for a few clubs in the short term but what happens if there’s another pandemic when deferred bills come due? Again, they may be able to handle it but even the Dodgers will likely then have to curtail spending.
For 25 of the teams in the league, I agree with you. But this is Boston. We don’t wait. We set the tone. Or at least we did from 2003-2018. This is years of being outbid, trading stars, letting guys walk, and being relatively uncompetitive in the making. It’s unacceptable in a market like Boston.
Aroid- and, it’s a new front office taking over a really dysfunctional unbalanced mlb roster.
In 2003 the sox were riding on a roster that featured a large number of GOOD players who had proven mlb track records of recent success.
That’s something this squad lacks to the same degree.
Even the worst to first clubs had a bigger group of talent the prior season you could work with and count on.
That makes a big difference, both in ability to convince guys to sign early, and, to know you trade big for one piece or two pieces and elevate your contender status.this isn’t the 2019 or even 2021 squad anymore. I’d equate it closer to the early to mid 1990s.
Dewey – Great points but if you consider how much profits the Dodgers and Yankees make per year, the impact event would need to last nearly a decade for them to run through their profits war chest.
If the Red Sox make an average of $300MM the last decade then they have roughtly $3Billion in profits. Yes they have probably moved that money out of the Red Sox organization but if they haven’t they can bid with NY and LA for players if they are willing to shrink their profits. Henry is a funny guy. He always seems to provide the money EXCEPT he does his “I want them to take a home town discount” thing to prove loyalty. Personally, the biggest barrier to Yamamoto signing in Boston is the Roster and the Manager. The other teams all have better rosters and they don’t have a convicted cheater for the Manager. Those are two HUGE hurtles for Breslow to overcome. He really needs to consider who in the farm system will be excellent as MLB players and who is over-rated much like DD did and then trade the pretenders for Burnes, Bieber or other top flight SPs so we can add two top of the rotation pitchers. Otherwise, we might as well add guys like Paxton and Perez like we have in the past. Bello, Houck and Crawford should not be better than the SPs we add. If they are, it’s another .500 season.
Dewey: that’s all we heard for the entire duration of the Bloom regime. “there’s plenty of time to sign an impact player, it’s early in the offseason! Nobody good has signed anywhere yet anyway!” At what point do people stop giving this team the benefit of the doubt? This off-season has played out exactly like last year, are you excited to watch last year’s team again this year? Even worse news: this team is currently much worse than that. We’ve replaced last year’s question marks with a whole new set. How does anyone seriously entertain the notion that a player like Yamamoto is going to take the thought of playing for this team seriously??
OK Pedro – tell us who has signed thus far, thus showing a willingness to do so, that you would’ve poached and at what exact contract term in years/salary? You can’t say Yamamoto since he hasn’t shown he was willing to sign yet. Nor Montgomery, nor even the likes of Nola who took a cheaper contract to stick in Philly since he preferred it.
Only FAs who switched teams…
This offseason hasn’t played out exactly the same in that BRESLOW was signed to take over the decision making process.
So, based on when HE came aboard, how much time do you give him to evaluate MiLB assets of a new team to judge how willingness should be to trade them, and, evaluate how he wants to work the roster?
Oh my god go back over the last 4 years and tell me what players of any significance have signed with this team. Enough of this dogsh*t “what good players have signed?” narrative! At the beginning of every season the last 4 years plenty of impact players have signed, how many of them signed HERE??
Pedro, you DO understand its a NEW GM right?
And, you haven’t answered my question of specifically, EXACTLY what you’d have done differently AND HOW.
You can’t hold breslow accountable for blooms decisions, and, Henry gave bloom PLENTY of money that was just poorly allocated.
And Bloom was new at one point as well. Everyone kept saying “he’s new, give him time” or “he’ll spend money next year”. How much more time should we have given him? How good were his signings each season? There’s a reason his teams finished last 3 out of 4 seasons, and the so-called “depth signings” Breslow has made have been the same kind of signings Bloom made. You want to wait 4 more years for a competitive team, that’s your prerogative.
Dewey-The Mets withdrew significantly more money than they “lost” in the Madoff scandal that’s the reason the D.A. Was going after them to begin with. They made a huge profit from the investments in Madoff. The charge was that they “knew or should have known” that Madoff wasn’t legit. They cried poor during the investigation and said they couldn’t spend due to the uncertainty surrounding it and it was all complete bs. Btw it was a direct quote from Yamamoto’s agent that he’d prefer to play with other Japanese players. I guess he could’ve been lying, but it wasn’t just speculation
Sadly I’m pretty sure he doesn’t not want to live in Boston.
Well Pedro you should give the new GM more than a few months before judging him. Let’s see what it looks like after the free agents have actually signed. Right now you don’t know squat about Breslow’s ability to bring in talent.
aroid95
We set the tone. Or at least we did from 2003-2018. This is years of being outbid,
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While this is certainly true, these are more volatile times. When our only competition was the NYY, the strategy was simple.
But when the competition involves guys like Cohen & Preller, trying to outbid them is suicide. The NYM overpaid by a factor of about 50%, finished #26, and sold off halfway thru the year. Preller traded off half his farm, ran up a $300M tab, missed the playoffs, and now appears to selling off. We have money, but still can’t afford those types of mistakes.
I’d be very happy if we allowed the LAD, NYM, SD & NYY to continue to outbid us, while still outbidding the likes of TX, TO, Philly & Atl.
“EXACTLY what you’d have done differently AND HOW.”
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You won’t get answer. What I’d like to see everyone do is to state who they want and what their budget is. But they won’t do that because they would prefer to complain. I’d like YY at $250M/10, but pass on him at $300M/10 and go after Monty/Snell. But some won’t say that because then it would deprive them of the ability to complain if we don’t sign YY for $300M.
“You can’t hold breslow accountable for blooms decisions, and, Henry gave bloom PLENTY of money ”
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This is one of my chief complaints. Henry squeezed Bloom on the payroll. The NYY and TO, and many other teams from other divisions, were jacking up their payroll 50% since 2019, while the RS payroll went from $244M (#1) to $222M (#12).
Joe, you know what, even at $300/10 I’d probably still sign ‘Moto. Depending on a deal structure I might even go a bit higher using bonuses for targeted outcomes
The difference between 10/250 and 10/300 is only 5m/yr. It doesn’t hurt you from STILL going for Monty. Speaking of whom, with his wife starting residency in town, I dont know the duration of those, but, maybe you sign him to a deal like Coles – not the years, but, give him an opt out for when her residency is up, and, an option to kick in extra $$$ to keep him in town if he triggered it and you wanted to.
in case someone gets hurt I guess
Perez will be the one getting hurt… at least according to the last few seasons
I was going to say that 10 mins from now it will be announced that Perez is going on the IL…
Well, I guess the Red Sox were “in on” Perez.
Was just wondering how the recovery was going, will be rooting for a healthy, fun season. Go get em Bebo!
It’s early in the process!
Start measuring the Red Sox for World Series rings, after this massive, acquisition! LOL
What has happened to john henry? He went from a top 3 owner to looking like he doesn’t care about winning anymore. The sox traded mookie for nothing. Let eovaldi leave and he wins another title. Lets Bloom sign an absolutely washed up trevor story. That AL east is going to be really tough for the next decade with the orioles and blue jays competing now. Any red sox fans opinions?
Plus Yankees are trying this offseason. Their fans gave Cashman an earful, and he’s been trying, he got Soto and now he’s trying hard for Yamamoto so got to give him some credit for being active.
Acoss – The Yanks try EVERY season. I can’t remember once in my lifetime when they began a season without expecting to compete. They spend big every winter, which they should for their revenue.
Yes I phrased that incorrectly my apologies, I should have said this the first year in like two offseasons or so that they actually got two lefty bats, after not addressing that need and riding the Hicks train for as long as they did. Also they got a young lefty bat in Soto so it’s a nice change of pace from them going after older players like Josh Donaldson.
acoss – Like Fever said the Yankees try every year and thank god they suck at doing it. Since they won half the world series from the 1920s to 1962 they owned the sport by spending multiples of the other teams payrolls. The an odd thing happened, their front office lost it’s ability to pick quality players. They chose popular players and over paid them. That’s why nearly all of their rings are over 60 years old. Cashman is as big a dunce as Bloom yet he doesn’t get fired. I can’t explain it. They just withdraw more money from their war chest and tell him to go get a ring next year. He doesn’t have a clue on how to get them. The Soto deal will blow up in his face this year. He’ll probably get hurt and miss significant time like so many before him in pinstripes. Cashman signed Cole after he was over the threshold then cut back the next year so the Yankees are like a bottle bobbing in the sea. Two years ago Judge has a big year so they do very well and last year he’s hurt so they don’t One year 5 average guys have big years when guys like Stanton get hurt and the next year they have the same 5 guys batting .200. It’s the Yankees, they just print more money and add players to show the fans they care. They never spent effectively so the rest of the division always has a chance.
If the Yankees get Yamamoto look for them to eat Stanton’s money and move him to a small market team until he retires. If they don’t get him, the Yankees will likely finish in the top 4 in the division with BAL, TOR and TB. They may or may not make the playoffs depending on Judge. In the end, they won’t advance in the playoffs and the AL championship will be between the Rangers and Astros. The two teams who manage the roster the best.
If you are a fan of Cashman, you don’t know baseball. He’s now the worst GM in baseball since Bloom is out.
To a degree, this is smart by breslow.
The team has been working top end talent negotiations, but, when you’re dealing with those guys you either A) have to jump in with a massive crippling overpay, or, B) go through the normal process, which takes time as the player and reps gauge the market and play offers off eachother.
Meanwhile, although breslow is making depth and backend moves, he’s doing them EARLY – that means getting his pick of which ones he wants, rather than settling for what is left over in late January.
It’s a much better tactic than just sitting back and waiting for the top of the market to shake out before doing anything at all.
When those players you “smartly” signed early all end up DFA’ed is it REALLY a better tactic?
Pedro – sure. Because NONE of these moves are interfering or replacing the likes of players who actually do matter.
Almost every backend of the roster deal winds up a DFA, non-tender, or decline to bring back player in the end. Doesn’t mean they don’t play an important role in depth for injury call-ups or to play in blowout games and save innings off your better guys.
Now, had this been like bloom where the Sox weren’t actively hosting and negotiating with top end players? And it’s February and these guys were being signed for starting roles? OK, then you gripe.
GA – For me there is a punch list and I’ve listed it many times. That punch list needs to be addressed first.
1 – Devers to DH (Won’t happen but declare early that you aren’t going to fix the defense so fans can react!!)
2 – Sign 2 TOP SPs (Hopefully working on it)
3 – Sign a LEFTY Reliever or two if Bernardino isn’t adequate (address it now!!)
4 – Sign a 3B (completely dependent on #1)
5 – Sign a 2B (address it now)
6 – Sign a catcher (DONE)
7 – Trade Verdugo (DONE)
8 – Trade Yoshida (Wait until Yamamoto signs then do it)
9 – Build depth – MI – Is Valdez good enough? CI – Is Dalbec good enough
4th outfielder – DONE (added O’Neill to go with Rafaela, Duran and Abreu)
The 26 man roster is set when these tasks are completed. Then go out and shuffle lower level players in hopes of upgrading the farm system. That needs to be the last item on the list unless somebody offers you a can’t miss farm system deal then go ahead and execute it.
Breslow needs to get the first items done as soon as possible. It’s going to really hurt the team to not do #1 but if Breslow has a plan for a smooth transition to it I’ll give him time to execute it. IF it doesn’t happen, he has the wrong job.
1-I’m a little concerned about Henry. He’s been a great owner, but he has to realize that the RS/NYY dynamic has changed and now we are #12 in spending. If we don’t get to about #5, we will remain at about .500.
2-BA and TB have been better run recently, but some of the draft is a crap shoot, so I am not certain that BA will remain elite.
3-I’m not concerned about TO or the NYY.
TO hit on some prospects several years back (maybe 2015/16), but have more recently survived by signing FAs. I don’t think that is sustainable.
And I don’t know what the NYY are doing. While Soto is a serious player, if they have to play Grisham in CF, it weakens the overall contribution of the trade. And when Dominguez returns, it feels like Grisham and Verdugo are going to become an expensive #4/5 duo on the bench. In addition, with the trade of King, they only have two guys that you can count on for 160 IPs.
I think they need to spend another $40-50M on pitching to compete, and still not be a great team.
The two things I’d add to that Joe, are:
1) last year’s payroll took a dip, but, bloom was also left with unused capacity after he screwed up in the offseason so badly with payroll that was reserved for certain guys (bogey for example) and then no worthwhile target remained to pivot to. So that’s part of things.
2) the NYY may be looking to protect their investment in Judge a little bit more than they historically have.
Give him a few more DH days, and play a competent but not spectacular Verdugo in his place.
Devers is not moving off of 3B anytime soon and the Sox are not trading Yoshida.
I would let Rafaela play 2B and sign Michael Taylor to play CF. Duran and Refsnyder can platoon in RF. O’Neill and Taylor vastly improve the OF defense and let them spend on starting pitching
Red Sox should trade for Morel. He can play 2B this year and take over for O’Neil in the outfield next year when Mayer comes up. Not sure what it’d take but maybe Breslow can finesse his old pals to bring him in.
I think Morel is the kind of 2B they’re trying to get away from. He’s a hit-first guy w an average glove. Kind of like Arroyo w more power.
A+ move
Hopefully Bebo can stay healthy. He was a really great defensive catcher when he was in Cleveland. Nice depth addition.
Another catcher on a minor league deal and The Kraken still waiting for a job.
Woohoo!!! Career at the Mendoza line….sign em up!!
Maybe Yamamoto told Boston that he would rather pitch to Roberto Perez more than any other catcher in the world.
Could be, right?
If you mental juggernauts are capable of processing two thoughts at once, I assume Breslow is as well. The lack of any big move thus far isn’t because the man has been feverishly scouting Bebo for three straight weeks. They’re going to be a borderline .500 team again because it’s not like Breslow and Bloom are looking at two different sports – same milquetoast ownership group, same results. Maybe if someone in the bullpen turned into a goalie overnight, said ownership group might care.
conquerbeard – Strange take on the situation. You think ownership turned down proposals by Bloom and Breslow to put their money elsewhere? They have so much money that’s never going to happen. First, the process is transactions are submitted for approval and funding. If never submitted they can’t be funded. Thus, you have the Bloom years. NOT ONE ALL-STAR quality hitter submitted to for funding BUT Betts, Benny, Bogaerts, JD all got dropped. That’s a monumental drop off in talent that Breslow needs to restore. He can’t do it if he doesn’t submit the proposals for money. I don’t know of any money being not issued for proposed trades except Mookie’s original deal because they wanted the infamous home town discount they have asked for in the past. I hope by now they have figured out how short sighted that approach is but we won’t know for a while since we currently over-paid for a DH that kills us in the field, a SS that has an OPS+ under 100 as a Red Sox, a Japanese DH who will finally help the team by not playing the field and many bad SPs who got over paid and of course the biggest travesty, giving Kiki $10MM instead of $1MM. The owners aren’t stalling any signings both GMs are doing it because they aren’t submitting anything DD walked in the door asked for money for Price then Sale and got it. If Breslow asks for money for Yamamoto he will get it, the question is whether it will be enough.
I hated that ownership turned their focus to other sports and let Bloom destroy the roster so you have a valid point that a big part of the current problem was their ignorance of how badly Bloom was hurting the organization.
This seems like too many paragraphs for this no?
It’s a Red Sox post. Story depth, exhaustive explanation, and a gazillion comments all required.
The SDP threads were getting like 1000 comments, but ever since they went bankrupt, MLB-R had nothing else to generate comments. And they know that if they have an article about the RS changing hot dog vendors, it will generate 100 complaints, this becomes the go-to announcements.
Crickets
Hello anyone home in the FO or management team….. This team STINKS needs a 1 and 1A pitcher. A second basemen that’s not trash would be great too.
This team STINKS
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Nonsense. We had a 81-81 Py W/L. We are currently mediocre.
Russell Martin’s doppelganger still plays? I remember him hitting 2 hone runs in game 1 of the 2016 world series. After that I’m not sure how he did.
Is this instead of Maldonado? I catch the drift for signing a defensive catcher, but as others mentioned, there are other glaring needs.
It’s still to early to judge Breslow’s offseason but I am beginning to have Deja Vu moments. I was happy with the Craig Breslow getting the job but if the Red Sox go another offseason without signing impact players it really won’t be up for debate as to who the blame falls on for Red Sox success or their lack of. Ownership needs to pony up to the goods. It’s not really a “full throttle” offseason if you continue to lose bidding wars to nearly half the league.
You have to be in dreamworld if you think Breslow is going to be able to sign Yamamoto. First if all the Japanese players like the west coast because it is closer to Japan that way they can go back more easily to visit. Breslow is an amateur in this game compared to the other GMs. I do not see this team overpaying him either.
Umm okay I didn’t even mention Yamamoto. My point was that the Red Sox ownership needs to be willing to pay out the big contracts it takes to sign top tier free agents. First, the moves Breslow has made up to this point in my opinion are reminiscent of moves Chaim Bloom made throughout his tenure but it’s still early in the offseason to come to that conclusion. Second, I happen to be Japanese. It’s kind of a generalization to assume that “Japanese players” prefer the west coast over most other markets. That’s been Ohtani’s preference and it’s been well documented but it’s not necessarily true of all players coming from Japan and there are many examples of that. Also, just fyi it’s like 12 hour flight from the West Coast to Japan and a 14/15 hour flight from Boston to Japan. The difference is somewhat negligible when your talking about that much travel time. I do agree with you however that the Red Sox are very unlikely to over pay for a player.
AL34, it’s my opinion that baseball players generally stay with the baseball team all year aside from the all-star break.
He’s not going back and forth to Japan and saving 5 hours by picking a team on the west coast. Perhaps if he thinks of his family visiting he may choose a West Coast team but I doubt that.
My guess and it may not be right, is that he’s coming stateside to be his own man, get away from his family, get to work and establish a major league baseball career of significance.
AL34
that way they can go back more easily to visit.
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Why would anyone do that, and I mean, anyone in the entire world?
Do you know how long it takes to pack, get to the airport, wait on line, plus the flight, and plus the commute to your house, and then multiply that by two for the return trip?
You would literally make the trip, spend a day at home recovering, spend a day with your family, reverse the entire trip, and spend another day recovering.
If you didn’t get permission to leave early, you would spend the entire AS break traveling.
Wow! Another major signing for Breslow!!! Perez’s .133 batting average should put us over the top. Please wake me up when Breslow picks up a player who can help this mediocre team climb out of the basement. Please Breslow, climb out of the dumpster where Chaim Bloom hung out regularly! Henry must have told Breslow what he wanted and dumpster diving is the plan!
2024 Redsox Nation support spending…0 Dollars so far…W the F is the “Full Throttle”? We fans were told about? Henry you can’t take money with you and you’re no spring chicken bro…just sayin
Who have the Red Sox lost out on so far? Soto? Don’t want him. ohtani? Nope. Nola? No thanks. Lugo from the Padres that Kansas City signed? Sure maybe but the Royal stepped up and gave him 3 years which I’m sure is what he was looking for.
I don’t think the Red Sox missed out on him they have their own guys like Tanner Houck, Crawford winkowski that are like that. And younger.
Truth be told the Red Sox haven’t missed out on anyone yet and many of you guys (not necessarily you guru) are foaming at the mouth, grinding you teeth, and ready for a white jacket because this is not moving at your pace.
Let’s take advantage of your staggering intellect.
Who would you sign, and how much would you pay them?
And no, I am not expecting an answer.
Maybe time to sell the team John Henry…if you’re tired, old, or frugality has settled in that’s fine. Get out of the way and sell the team…go count your profits and fade into the sunset. Fans who love competitive ML Baseball deserve that!
I think it is time to sell the team. I also think that the Mariners won’t give up any of their starting pitching for anything less than Yorke. The only top prospect I’m willing to part with is Rafaela. Duran could also be traded.
FenwayFanatic – WHAT? Rafaela? Why? The entire farm system is a bunch of unknowns who starrt at the top of the list and fall as time passes. Seldom do they move in the other direction. Yorke is a perfect example. He is a great candidate for a trade along with Blaze Jordan and many others. Why? Because their status is changing in a similar way to the great Jeter Downs. I called him a bum at the time of trade and got read the riot act from all those prospect lovers who see value that doesn’t exist. Mayer was the fourth pick in the draft. He hasn’t played like that. Moncada was similar. Yorke started fast and has been falling ever since. Right now the hot commodity in the minors is Anthony because he’s been outstanding. That’s the type of guy you keep until he starts dropping off then you deal him. So to me, trade anyone not named Anthony, Mayer (1 year left to show value), Rafaela and Teel on the hitting side. The rest need to be packaged to get something we are needing. We need a 3B, a 2B, a better catcher and top end stating pitching.
Trade for Burnes, Woodard (Invest $12MM for 2024 to get him in 2025) or Bieber (even if his velocity is down. He’ll adjust). Use everyone you need to except the ones I mentioned above. It’s absolutely critical we get pitching.
To reply, I also think we should trade Yorke and Jordan. I just don’t think that would be enough to get a high profile starting pitcher. I never liked Jeter Downs and I thought his offensive profile wouldn’t holdup in the big leagues.
However, I did go to spring training last year and Mayer and Anthony really stood out to me as superstars, more than Downs or Chavis ever did. Rafaela didn’t impress me that much and reminded me too much of Jackie Bradley Jr’s offensive. Teel is the catcher of the future. It only seems like we differ on Rafaela. I think Yoshida’s going to be the DH and Raffy will still play 3B. I think we need to go all in on Starting Pitching. If we don’t get Yamamoto, we need to sign Montgomery, Imanaga / Future Ace from trade, and Brandon Woodruff to replace Sale next year.
Good Move. Hopefully he can help young pitchers such as Dick Fitts and maybe soon Wikelman Gonzalez refine their skills and become better pitchers
Mr. October!
As a Sox fan it doesn’t seem like Breslow is being “aggressive” at all. Not saying I wanted Ohtani and his massive deal but all we’ve done is trade away a key part of our team in Verdugo and he’s an all star if I may add. And now we’ve added this 35 year old catcher. Come on Craig….we need reliable starting pitching and a good amount of it to compete in this division and we need an everyday second basemen. Not these shmucks we threw there all last year. Pull the trigger Craig
Who do you see for second base? Hope it’s not India, whose stats are skewed by Reds’ ballpark.
Unfortunately the FA crop is abysmal at best. India should not be an option. I’d say a trade. I like either Polanco or Drury. I hope it’s not Merrifield either. I saw they were in talks. He’s 35. He’s not the answer