Jose Abreu

Holt plays 7 positions and is coming off back to back years with an OBP over .362. Yolmer is nowhere near as good. Their similar WAR totals are a function of playing time, not performance

The only guys on that list who I think TA is better than (going forward) are DeJong and Polanco. His omission isn't that bad IMO

Yes, especially for the infield. Moncada/Anderson/Madrigal is really solid defensively, and becomes great if Anderson plays his 2018 defense (or better). A power-hitting bench option is more tantalizing than a defense-first guy, IMO.

What specifically do you think is wrong with his approach?

There's a scenario that's not at all far-fetched where Collins, Sheets, and Vaughn all dominate their levels while Abreu and Encarnacion perform to expectations in MLB. At some point, a trade will probably be necessary, even in addition to declining the option on EE.

Agreed, he gets slept on but I think he'll actually be a solid MLB option in the future (probably not for us). From 5/30 to the end of the season, he hit .287/.372/.481 with a 148 wRC+. For reference, Robert posted a 155 wRC+ in AA.

Not to mention, Grandal and EE are the only "slow" guys. Abreu is closer to average by sprint speed, and Eloy is actually deceptively fast

I still think Altuve uses other methods of cheating. He looks innocent through this study but I'm curious to see how he performs moving forward

MLB posted a video today that got me thinking: Eloy hit .267/.315/.513 (.828 OPS, 117 OPS+, 116 wRC+) in a rookie year that was often interrupted by injury, rusty periods following injury, and so on. When he was healthy and recovered from whatever ailment he had been dealing with (as in, ~2 weeks after returning from an IL stint), he was awesome. He seems to have bulked up over the winter, and his swing looks great at the end of that video. Defense aside (I think he'll improve to the point where he's at least playable), what do you expect from him next year? Something like .270/.320/.500 may be a reasonable baseline, but if he stays healthy, I think he's gonna take a massive leap. I wouldn't be surprised if he puts up .280/.340/.560 with 45 home runs (he was on a 41 home run per 162 pace last year), for example. Is that crazy?

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.