GreenSox

The 3 best relievers are lefties: Avilan, Cedeno, Fry. (and the next man up, Bummer, is also a lefty) Avilan and Cedeno have 2 years of control each. They should be moved, if possible, by Tuesday - whatever prospect they can get for them will be of higher quality with the extra year of a cheap contract.

And what is a top 25 really - well, we just got one for Soria, and his most likely outcome is as a situational lefty - could be better, could be worse, but that's the most probable. So you trade a player, say Jace, for a player whose most likely outcome is to become in 2 years what Jace is right now. It's tough to make real gains unless you draft it yourself or you trade a monster player or you hit a lottery ticket (which is not all luck - teams that scout well hit more lottery tickets than teams that don't).

It is an issue, but who are the several? The Sox are going to need 4-5 hitters .800 OPS and above; and only a couple can be of the no-defense profile like Avi and Abreu. These college hitters should look good through A Ball, but once they hit AA, we get closer to reality. There are some there.

So is Abreu back in play?

Geeze I can't get mad at Minaya. He's doing his best.

Trout sure gives full effort.

He kind of looks like a left handed Singer.

Are they done with Clarkin, or do you figure he's too far-gone to worry about anyone taking him.

The entire bullpen; Avi, Abreu, Leury, Yolmer, Davidson, Narvaez....I would hesitate in trading any of the latter 4 (because they are still not fully developed and won't get good value in trade), but they will have to make decisions.

I believe so, yes. Veterans can be rule 5d - see Gose last year. There are plenty they can dump, but hopefully they can trade a few, so they have room to pick up more for next year. Also, they will have their own prospects become rule 5 eligible for the first time this year.

Rule 5 guy, which seems to be the vogue. 2 interesting pitchers. Sox will have to make some decisions on AAA guys, maybe try to move a few more before August, and clear out the Skoles, etc.

That's what I was going to say - no AAA OFs but look at 3B or any middle infielder. Maybe catcher.

And he ought to be up for that - chance to "reinvent" himself; he might make all of that off-speed stuff work out of the pen.

Chris Sale is a top 3 pitcher right when Boston is in a prime winning window. It's already a win for Boston; the question is whether it also becomes a win for the Sox; it should, and hopefully it becomes a big win, but that's to be determined. You can't just add up WARs anyway; otherwise, trading Mike Trout for 2 5-WAR Adam Eatons would be a good trade.

I think you are really, really optimistic in that all of those guys are going to work out. Even of the 3 that are up - Lopez, Giolito, Covey - none have solidified themselves into a rotation; they look decent one outing and the next day they look like Shields/Volstad; and of the 3, Covey has flashed the most upside pitching skill. If you extrapolate out the long process and consider depth needs: stockpile the pitching. And on another note, the bottom 1/4 of the pitching staff is so bad (and some of the top 1/4 pitch like the bottom 1/4 on occasion) that it's hard to get a feel for how the Sox stand otherwise.

Adams is 22 - they can their time with him; Stephens is almost 26 and pitching consistently- time to make the move with him. Too much pitching has never been a problem in this org. since, maybe, 1967. They'll find room for everyone. After July 31, they only players standing in the pen should be Jace and Avilan, and even they may be gone.

And he's coaching the young pitchers; and clubhouse chemistry. Hard to believe Volstad has been on the 25 since the 2nd week of the season. He certainly hasn't distinguished himself.

Walking the guy in front of Trout with 2 outs is just asking for it.

Renteria is relentless about Engel in the lineup

I have the sound off - watching Trout's reaction I thought he popped it up. Shields just can't thow him anything in the zone.

Yes

Interesting question. I'd say stay in A ball for another year then maybe AA or the ML bench...see how he handles a new group of players as part of his manager prep. If he moves up with them step by step that would be like another insiders' club.

Consider trading Fry because relievers don't have a long shelf-life (usually) and the Sox won't really need him until 2020. But he's only pitched for a few months, doesn't have super prospect/minor league pedigree behind him, so I think the return would be insufficient and it would be worth the risk to hold him until at least December.

That would result in teams with bad farm systems AND no draft picks. That would bury teams with bad front offices for 10 years instead of 5.

Only if you consider 2016 and before to be Britton's level. Which it may be - he's only thrown 15 innings this season there may be reason to believe he will return to that level. I also read that all 3 prospects will be Rule 5 eligible. Yanks know how to deal from surplus.