almagest

It's fake but I'm enjoying that I have something to follow on SoxTalk this morning.

The more "details" these idiots provide the less likely it is to happen.

In a vacuum moving a 5 WAR 3B to 2B or the outfield to add another 5+ WAR third baseman is a no-brainer. I really don't want to spend the assets it would require to get him, though, because I think it will still be a lot and we're not deep beyond our top 5ish prospects. I also don't want to move a guy who just had a fantastic year and his first taste of sustained success to another position.

Both SoT and FBW are great games. I hope they do another.

Who else needs a third baseman and would give Donaldson 4/110 million?

That makes sense, since Donaldson's agent is Dan Lozano.

Brandon Workman just put up a 2 fWAR season as a reliever, made $1 mil last year, and is under team control for 2 seasons. There's no realistic way the Sox are getting Workman and Bradley without giving up too much, especially if they're bringing Bradley off the bench.

Even if he did nothing else that homer to beat the Cubs is in my all-time best White Sox moments.

JBJ is a starter on the Red Sox. He's not going to come here and want to take a backup role, and even if he did I'm not taking on a large chunk of David Price's salary to get a backup who isn't really better than Engel on defense and hasn't been much better at hitting since 2016.

It makes sense to trade him, then, unless they're trying to keep him around one more year and persuade him. If they trade him though it won't be packaging him with Price and losing a ton of value. They'll trade him alone and get back a solid set of prospects.

I really don't think Boston is looking to add Betts to sweeten the pot to trade Price. It doesn't make a lot of sense. I think they're trying to clear salary so they can resign Betts, and trading him to then resign him in the offseason is just odd.

That's why I said I'm not optimistic. I think they'll still try, though.

I think the Sox view Mazara as a stop gap (unless he explodes and turns into a 3+ WAR player) and are planning to make a push to sign Betts when he's a free agent. There's no reason they can't, especially now that there's a bit more clarity around key piece salaries for the future. They have not converted on this tier yet, though, so I'm not optimistic.

It’s a little strange that we still don’t have terms or a confirmation from the team.

Depends how much cash. He's probably not going to get you more than a 4-5 starter would, so they would need to chip in a lot. I don't know if its worth it for them.

If they can guarantee Betts signs an extension for 3 or 4 years... maybe? I'd think about it for sure. Adding Price would likely mean I'd deal one of Vaughn or Madrigal, leaning towards Vaughn. Would also add Mazara. I assume the Red Sox would be tossing in a lot of money too, or the return would be Mazara and someone not Vaughn/Madrigal.

True, but once something comes out it's usually done quickly. Grandal happened fast, Mazara took a couple hours.

I think its dead, based on how quiet it's been and how stupid that Gammons tweet was.

I guess because Moncada is at 3rd and they're penciling Madrigal in at 2nd. I'd be absolutely fine with that IF they get a competent RF and a SP or two. It doesn't have to be this offseason either, though my faith is pretty low that they'll be able to make any substantial moves before starting to worry about free agency. I think we'll be entering our competitive window with Mazara then Adolfo/Basabe/Rutherford/Gonzales in RF and we'll need to rely on Giolito/Kopech/Cease to carry the rotation.

No way. I don't buy it. That would be incredibly stupid. Vaughn + Madrigal would be the starting point for a true ace, not a 34 year old former ace with injury concerns.

His career OPS+ is 112 largely due to an outlier year in 2017, so no, I'm not.

He was 10 points better in OPS+ and his defense was bad in LF. In RF it would be even worse. I don't buy it.

I think people should look at this move separate from spending more money. There was no real right fielder available besides Calhoun. Castellanos and Ozuna would likely be worse than Mazara out there, and Calhoun's career offensive numbers are close to Mazara's. This move says "we don't like what's available in free agency" and I can't fault them for that. If Mazara sucks they likely let him go and see if Basabe/Adolfo/Gonzalez are ready, or look at free agent/trade options next year. If he's good then they can try to extend him, trade him for pitching or keep him around for one more year as they continue to look for a long-term option in RF. Also, people assuming 2020 would be a competitive year are fooling themselves. They'll probably be around .500. Kopech, Cease, Robert and Madrigal all need time to develop at the MLB level and will likely struggle for a good part of the season. Lopez and Rodon are unknowns. We may see some regression from Anderson, Moncada and Giolito. Unless the Sox signed Cole, Strasburg and Rendon this wouldn't have been a competitive team. That said, if they don't spend money wisely on good free agents this and next year then I'll join in on the hate for that like I did last year with Machado and Harper.

They need offense but not like this.