Jose Abreu

They seem to keep their managerial plans very close to the vest, but I've always had a suspicion that he's "next in line". Based on what I've read about him, I'd love it. It would also correspond well with all of the pro-analytics quotes and articles that came from Soxfest.

There are hundreds, they just don't get any opportunities or interest because they aren't former players or sexy names. Brian Kenny wrote about this in Ahead of the Curve, it's actually pretty interesting.

Re: Renteria, his roster management late in 2019 really irked me too. There was absolutely no reason for Welington Castillo to get significant playing time in lieu of Zack Collins, for example

Likely true. I’d love a Moncada extension + Pederson signing, for example.

Depends on a lot of things obviously, but the Sox could sign him for $35 million per year and still have a league-average payroll next year (assuming options are declined on EE, Gonzalez, etc. and arb raises are normal). If (big if) TWO of Kopech/Cease/Lopez have great years (let’s say 3+ fWAR) and the position players perform as expected, it’s somewhat likely that RF will be the only major need, in which case I absolutely can see them allocating all their resources towards one player.

David Haugh fired from the Tribune

Sure, he didn't accept the offer, but my point is that they haven't drawn a line at $100 million and said "we're not paying anyone more than this". The Machado offer doesn't really count IMO, but the Wheeler one does

I don’t agree with this at all. This was their philosophy for 2020, not the rebuild, and even then, the $100 million thing isn’t true given what they offered Wheeler. I think they went with all one-year deals (aside from Keuchel and Grandal) so that they can re-evaluate their needs after the season and make more appropriate, long-term moves.

The Jets are a better example right now. Lions too

Stiever is probably fair but I think both of these pieces are significantly better than Walker.

Gallen may have outperformed his peripherals but his batted ball stats are awesome. I feel like he has more trade value than Cease due in part to that. But I understand your point more now.

Why would they trade a young stud SP in Gallen for 2 years of Marte?

I don't see the Sox exercising the EE option for 2021 if Vaughn flies through the minors (unless EE randomly has a Nelson Cruz-like breakout)

I was there for Cooper's interview and it was crazy (in a good way) being there and hearing him say all the right things. The organization seems to have fully embraced analytics, almost overnight.

That's what Bleacher Report is supposed to be, it just has its own operational issues

Tim Anderson has more trade value than Nolan Arenado, and it frankly isn’t close. One has 2 guaranteed years of control at market value, the other has 5 at well-below market value.

Surprised this didn't get any traction here. To me, Boras making Heyman tweet this this signals that this is almost over and Castellanos signs very soon. Either that, or the market is completely dead and he needs a spark

Why not go for one who's sort of meh at both (Cameron Maybin perhaps)? I know Maybin had great hitting stats last year but it doesn't seem sustainable to me. He should easily be better with the bat than Engel, though. And while he's not a great defender, he has good range and is at least better than Mazara/Eloy

The raw numbers don't show it (since it was such a small sample size) but he looked pretty good in MLB last year prior to the TJS. I still think he has a future with us

Tim Anderson (since he was drafted before the rebuild). But my point is that this is all relative. Sale and Anderson alone make the past decade of first round picks a positive for the Sox, from a value standpoint. Most other teams have not gotten such value from their best picks in that same span

So who are the organizations getting 5 to 6 WAR from individual, homegrown star players each year for the last decade?

I think Dunning is a better candidate than Stiever to be the "surprise" guy who comes up and gives us a dozen starts this season

Yeah he's gone. That comment is damning. Really curious to see where he and Bryant are playing come 3/26.

I bet some teams from Korean and Japanese leagues have checked in

Especially because Moncada is a better defensive 3B than Sanchez and Madrigal is probably about the same at 2B