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That's what everyone else is asking. I've been begging for 3 or 4 off seasons for the Sox to trade for young LH OF, throwing all kinds of names out there. Some got traded, some were rumored to be on the block and not traded. Some were just names I threw out there. Like most fans I'm not privy to who is available. Some are hoping we get a LH OF prospects who can step right in like Cowser or Kjerstad from Baltimore. In the meantime scour the dumpsters and AAAA guys who can't hit but can run and field.

Getz has already said Colas will start the season in AAA. He's in the doghouse for not showing the respect to his coaches by throwing to the wrong bases and not taking more pitches.

There are certain things that good GM keep in mind. SS and CF. Prospects drafted or traded for that play these 2 position are usually the fastest and most athletic. That means they can transition to other positions if they physically mature out of CF and SS. Compare the kids physique to his parents to get an idea of how their physique will look as they age. I'm sure good scouts look at many indicators besides the obvious like stats, current body and temperament. Bat speed, swing path, fluidity of movement, mechanics, intelligence , humility, work ethic all mean more to some scouts than others. It would be cool to find the scouts with good track records on picking high school, college and international players , pick their brains and see how well they can verbalize everything they saw that maybe someone else overlooked, some intangible that they valued above all else. Maybe there's a book out there already about it.

How do they add power hitters ? As of now they have Cease and Robert to trade. Many on the board want only prospects and don't want to find a guy with less control who could increase in value to be flipped later (Lux for example). Need value to get value. Since the Sox have been so bad at drafting and especially development ,getting guys close to the majors or guys with 3-5 years of control keeps the Sox out of the full development process. Higher floors means more certainty. With the way the rebuild core performed should remind us that the Sox are not the Dodgers when it comes to helping prospects reach a higher level of performance. If Getz made an announcement that the Sox are fully committed to developing youth and are revamping and hiring top people to that end and was willing to go into details to support that kind of announcement, that would be the best news the fans could possibly get this off season.

I think Getz would be limiting the return by going pitching heavy. Get the best 3 guys from one system even if the 3 are all pretty equal. If Baltimore is keeping Cowser,Kjerstad, Holiday, I think a package of Coby Mayo, Dylan Beavers, Ortiz or Norby, Hall. Just take the best guys, no need to focus on pitching. You can trade Robert later for pitching. I'd love me some Andrew Painter after he heals up. Beavers is a savage you havent heard much about yet. Power hasn't shown up in games yet and that's good. Underestimate him for now. He's just 22 . Did well in A+, even better but less ABs (134) in AA in 2023.Tall, lean muscle , room to grow, gun for an arm, great swing. I think he's primed for a big season this year . Not sure he'll be back in AA to start the season. Probably won't stick in CF but ideal for RF. Reminds me physically a bit of Bellinger , his swing looks smoother not as violent probably not as good a fielder or runner , maybe a better arm.

U don't actually have to . There are ways to stream almost any game from any major sport onto your smart TV. Quality is usually HD and the stream is sporadic but I'm thrilled with free. After I figured out how to get it from my computer to my TV without Chromecast or mirroring . 19 inch SD to HD 50" . I've been enjoying ( for lack of a better word) a lot of Bears Bulls and Blackhawk games. Some would find it annoying that the picture will go into the refreshing mode fairly often and you have to go through a trial and error period on a TV browser and figuring out the best way to access the signal consistently but hey getting all major sports free doesn't come easy. There's no expensive equipment involved just your basic smart TV and your willingness to be patient with the streaming quality and signal strength.

Some of it has to do with the age of some of the guys having a 2nd one. Ptatc can handle the medical reasons. There's only so much wear and tear human joints and muscles can endure before they are permanently weakened.

Where's the Carpenters video ?

Great article and some pretty good comments too. It just goes to show how little JR invests in acquiring and developing youth.

What's wrong with Beavers? He's 22 LH CF with a good eye, nice arm. If he doesnt stick in CF he can play RF. He might be a year away so maybe you can get a final look at Colas in 2024 if the Sox ever think he can make some strides. Or they can trade Colas. 55 overall scouting grade same as Kjerstad and 2 years younger. Cowser is a 60 and 23. Turning up your nose at a guy like Beavers tells me your expectations from Baltimore are misplaced. Hold Cease for what exactly ? Till the All Star break ? Too risky. Who exactly do you think the Sox are going to get that would beat a strong Orioles package of LH's and a pitcher . Ortiz, Beavers and Hall would be a pretty strong package. That's 2 up the middle guys and their best pitching prospect besides Rodriguez .

Yep Baltimore will be trading Santander, Mullins and Hays son so their young OF prospects can step right in. Santander needs to go asap. Does Holiday jump right in to replace him or does Kjerstad or Cowser. I don't see many here suggesting LH OF Dylan Beavers as a potential trade candidate. He's considered a 5 tool guy. Id be happy to take him if Kjerstad and Cowser are next in line for the O's outfield. I'd consider Beavers a pretty good headliner. And who wouldn't love a prospect named Beavers ?

I loved your analysis. Very well thought out. Extremely basebally and gutsy. I'll always give you a lot of credit for putting yourself out there. Evaluating prospects is difficult. Rankings sometimes means very little like with Busch. He's still rated as of one the top 2 Dodger prospects at 26 yrs old and without a glove only because of his bat. The Dodgers have absolutely no use for a player like that. Look at the guys they turned from nothings into somethings. Outman, Justin Turner, Max Muncy. The one thing they all have in common is that they all can play the field and fairly well . If you can play the field ,hit HR's and walk the Dodgers like your potential. They don't care about K rate if the other 3 are solid. And that's worked for them. I also think think being LH is very important to them. It's easier to fix those guys. LH's are ideal strong side platoon guys when you get to face opposite handed pitchers a lot more than RH hitters, Muncy and Outman can all play multiple position. Outman all 3 OF positions and Muncy 3 infield positions. I think it's very important that the Sox come away with a strong fielding LH position player , maybe even 2 of them. That Dodger package doesn't have that. I like Pages but he's RH and coming off a tore labrum. Pitchers are even harder to evaluate. Sheehan hasn't had many minor league innings. I think he's ready to pitch 125 innings this year based on his total of 122 last year but I wouldn't push him to go above that Inning total from last year given it was his 1st time pitching that many innings. Ideally you want to see an innings increase but maybe its best with SP to get the arm used to a certain amount of innings rather than continually pushing it higher . 2 straight years of 125 and then an increase. I don't know if any teams currently handle SP prospects that way so it's my own personal recommendation. Teams havent exactly figured out how to prevent TJS so maybe they are pushing them too hard too fast. I'd rather get a pitcher, with all other things being semi equal, a guy who has a few years in a row with a better minor league track record involving IP and durability. I'd have to do a deeper dive on the multiple mid 20's Dodgers guys to see who fits that bill. Gavin Stone looks ready to pitch more innings. He's smallish as a pitcher and he didn't impress in his call up last year. His fastball can go 98 but doesnt miss bats with it as much as he could. SO evaluating pitchers is really hard. So much can change from year to year. Add a pitch, better control, better command that changes everything. With all that in mind as I said I'll take the innings and durability among a bunch of mid 20's guys. Baltimore has a lot of LH prospects. I'd definitely prefer them as a trading partner.

I think Getz is going to want 1 or 2 of Frasso, Stone, Sheehan, Ryan, Hurt or Knack. Those guys are all 25 and Knack is 26. I don't think there's any way a Cease trade is completed without a starting pitcher. Pages shows a lot of promise. In his 2nd go round in AA he did very well but it was just 33 games. But he torn his labrum in his 1st AAA game on May16 and missed the rest of the season after surgery. Shoulder injuries impair his power stroke for a bit. He's RH and plays RF ( Cuban ,avg defender , strong arm, nice walk rate.) He could use some AAA time. Previously he was added to the Dodgers 40 to protect him in the Rule 5. I don't think there's a need to ask for Rushing. You might not have a true headliner because of Busch's lack of position or 1B only profile but there are worse things than a LH slugging 1st baseman. I suppose you could work with him at 3rd base and see if he can improve there. I still think Eloy has to be gone for him to play . You could alternate Vaughn and Busch between DH and 1st base. I think he'd be an instant starter for better or worse.

I still think it's an exercise in futility trying to project outcomes for oft injured and low OBP guys like Eloy,Moncada , Robert and Vaughn along with guys like Colas and Sosa. I know projections are probability based but until these guys can stay healthy and can tell the difference between a ball and a strike a little better it will always prevent them from showing marked improvements from year to year and reaching sustainable and expected level of higher performance. With the dumpster dives guys like DeJong , Lopez and Stassi what they contribute is almost strictly based on defense and helping the pitchers . Their offense completely negates their defense or positive War production. I don't think going from 29th to 28th in position player f or bWar means anything as far as wins and losses are concerned when you are still talking about somewhere around 100 losses. I could see going through with your projections if this team actually had a chance to improve by even 10 more wins but I'm afraid they don't. The pitching may end up the worst in baseball. DeJong , Lopez and Stassi can't prevent balls from flying over the fence or smashed all over the park. I don't need to convince myself that what Getz has accomplished so far is meaningful in terms of wins and losses in 2024. It isn't.

But for the good teams who take making the playoffs as a given it's the 2 post seasons that really matters. If Cease can bounce back from his 2023 season he looks a lot more attractive for 2024 and 2025 playoffs. I think right now a little panic about his value is just a part of the natural cycle when it's still mid December. You knew teams that you would suspect of wanting Cease still had other options on the SP market. You just have to wait that out and still hold the belief that he is very valuable. A lot of teams in the hunt still have moves to make. They are testing Getz's resolve as a rookie GM trying to make him think that maybe his asking price is too high. This is likely to go on for another month minimum.

Maybe then he holds Cease until the All Star break in the hopes he pitches much better than last year counting on his durability and others pitches lack thereof. Risky for sure given how the Sox players really haven't been able to sustain a consistent track record of success. A lot depends on how Bannister might be planning to get Cease to throw more strikes which despite his success has always been his biggest problem.

Yea would weird if it fell apart or ended up being a lot different.

Yup that $2M per year for Ohtani was a game changer if we were expecting the Dodgers to make a play for Cease because of financials.

Rays doing what the Rays do. They got 2 mid 20s guy who are solid if not spectacular players. Pepiot 26 has good command . Solid opener, long or short relief. FA 2029. De Luca 25, OF who can play all 3 OF positions and a very solid defender with some offensive upside. FA 2030. Pepiot likely to be good contributor going forward and DeLuca possible 4th OF candidate. DeLuca probably could've been the leading RF guy for the Sox as a 3rd or 4th piece in a Cease trade unless you prefer those bottom pieces to be younger. But an older guy with defensive quality with offensive upside and 6 years of control should've been right up Getz alley if he was looking for a potential starter in RF.

I don't think Pepiot is a starting pitcher though unless the Rays see that for him. That's usually why I usually didnt mention him about potential players in a Cease trade. He was more of an opener and 26 years old but has done well with the Doders. Doesn't really have the innings built up yet to be a full time SP. So he is talented.

This is the way.

People go to see their team win. The more you win the more people who show up. Eloy and Vaughn have been nearly useless to winning. You can go ahead and give me the I talked bad about Eloy , laugh emoji now Tray.

You would have to define " does the Sox no good " . There's a lot of good things that can happen before the 2026 trade deadline. How he performs in 2024 and 2025 could have good outcomes. By then you'll have a much better idea how far away you are depending on our minor leaguers performances over the next 2+ year. Moncada and Eloy likely gone. Benintendi closer to being gone. A bit more financial flexibility perhaps. Maybe even a new owner. If he established himself with 2 years of high performance now he's worth something in a trade. Maybe Robert is traded before Lux is and now the Sox have Montgomery,Colas, Sosa, Quero , Ramos and some pitchers and some better development luck and even more talent in the minors from the Cease and Robert trade. You start the Tampa Bay imitation game by trading away guys about to get too expensive to keep the influx of talent coming and now trade for some lower and mid level prospects. This way you are spreading out the prospects acquisitions over a 3 year period. Cease in 2023/ 24, Lux or Robert 24/25 and again Lux or Robert in 25/26. Such a thing to say about 3 years in the future confounds me. You must start with a vision.

While I agree with everything you said and it's a start in the right direction it's a long way from fixing drafting and developing and maintaining a steady influx of young talent that is so vital to successful teams. I am not going to forget that he's played an important role in developing talent in the minors that hasn't been all that fruitful lately. Perhaps he'll have more power as GM to do things his way .

He was injured all of last year so his value may not be as high as it might be once he shakes off the rust especially when you are surrounded by a lot of good hitters. I'm sure it helped Outman . But the Dodgers right now are tauting him as their starting SS to increase value , but he is likely a future 2nd baseman but Betts will be there. I think the Dodgers trade him before the other teams are reminded that his future isn't at SS.