GreenSox

Trading top prospects at all in this day and age, much less trading them for a pitcher coming off of a bad year.

Yea, this isn't good. The Braves may not have the most desirable prospects. But their FO has the sophistication to understand Cease's value, and the guts to make a move. And currently, the Sox are dealing with orgs that I fear lack both, esp. the guts.

I just saw that they signed Maldanado. Seems like some Pedro nonsense.

He's acquired the veterans for the price of an inconsistent reliever; far cry from his predecessor who would trade a legitimate prosect for a washed up veteran. Admittedly, his predecessor as a point of comparison is a ridiculously low bar. But Getz really doesn't have a lot of assets to work with. As for his work in player development, well it certainly hasn't been a success. But he can only try to develop the players he's given, and who knows how much of the problem was lousy drafting.

You know a lot more about this stuff than I do, but he doesn't walk and he doesn't hit homers. I see the 120, so I guess I'm missing something.

He really hasn't done much in the majors: his OBP was good in his first year, but that appears to be batting-average inflated, not supported by real power or by walks. He's got negative returns on his defense, per fangraphs. And as I recall, he was barely a top 100 prospect when called up, so it's not like he was one of these guys just waiting to explode. He seems more like the 3rd piece.

This is the sort of deal I was looking for with Cease: a Young pitcher, a young OF and, a couple of longshot prospects (Rays received a salary dump in lieu of the longshot prospects). The pitcher looks good; I can't tell about the OF on stats, but the Rays fans think he has star potential. I think it's easier for a GM to trade away players like this versus "top prospects" for which there is always high scrutiny.

I can see why: to stay ahead of things. To keep the org fresh. Their farm system is less than exemplary at this point. Probably a smart move.

Well, if the Tigers are spending money, I’m glad they’re spending money on players like this.

If he does, that would mean that Boston severely underpaid for Sale* or Baltimore has severely overpaid for Cease. Sox did sell Sale low, although the level of severity is debatable.

Lugo was good last year, after a nifty move by the Padres to switch him back to starter. If these dog starters are worth $10 million, $15 mill for him seems reasonable.

I'm hoping for a good young RF after all of this.

SS and C, which are defense-first positions, covered at minimum use of resources. You can get offense from OF at much less cost, They've played this right thus far, given the limited resources.

Yes, Collins and Burdi over Lux and Smith. The braintrust. Lux as a Cease headliner (how would he not be, at 3 fWAR, bizarre as it is) would be a really poor use of resources.

The Sox rebuild failed because they had zero prospect depth. In a touch of irony, perhaps that explains the reluctance of the Orioles and Reds: "We don't want to be like you." I think this ends up with the Dodgers who have prospects at the "use them or let them rot on the vine" stage. Maybe the Braves, Mets or Padres. A more mature team.

Agree This doesn't need to be for the Dodgers convenience.

Right - they've had a bad approach since the beginning. That was a KW thing, popularized by Ozzie; Hahn was too much of a cuck to do anything about. They've done what they've done with a bad approach - doesn't explain last year's collapse. The only exception might be Moncada - he got worse when they started beating on him about called Ks. I have heard Barfield talk about a better approach.

Assuming MLB rankings are reasonably accurate, the Dodgers don't have an elite prospect and really none in that next category either. Their top is #43. And their prospects are older. I don't expect an elite prospect for Cease, but I would think we'd need some volume from the Dodgers for it to work, especially if they hold back their #1 and #2, as teams want to do.

While there's a certain degree of rabbit's foot rubbing to expect these players to improve, it's not like these players were past-their-prime veterans who could have been reasonably expected to have down years. The Sox had an inordinate number of dog years from players who should be in their prime. The young players didn't progress a lick (and some regressed). I think it's reasonable to expect some improvement from the incumbents in 2024.

Sweeney slides in as Dodger prospect #18, per MLB.com If he's someone we want, we should be able to make a deal with them pretty easily.

I will agree that there is some sunshine pumping on the defense, it’s not really coming at the expense of offense. We had no offense at second shortstop and catcher.

Sox will be good defensively up the middle. That's something. I'd really like to see a young OF.

If it keeps the team off of Perez, this is a big win.

Cashman v. Preller is a pretty good matchup in prospect-wits. Preller isn't afraid to trade his prospects, but he's really good at finding them (which may be the reason he's willing to trade them).

Sounds good to me