SCCWS

I saw a lot of Boston games and they tried to "hide" him at 1B. He struggled there defensively although he never played it much because of Rizzo in Cubworld. Understnading the Sox are limited in shifts, teams that are shift reliant tend to expose !B who struggle w range. Not like the old days where a guy didn't have much ground to cover. I think Schwarber is a DH with a good LF bat.

FWIW--I saw the Cano contract reference but didn't see this from Rosenthal: George Springer, who a year ago was almost exactly the same age as Semien is today, landed a six-year, $150 million deal on the open market with the Blue Jays." Story says Red Sox are very involved but Boras wants $200 Mil. Yankees sniffing around as well. Does sound like Semien will play 2B which is a good sign for us. https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb-rumors-marcus-semien-asking-200009025.html

We should realize that bullpens were critical this post season. Hopefully this is an important component.

Passan said Franco is going to be a Ray for a long time. Maybe. I still think Tampa is a very shaky franchise and they may not be in Tampa as long as Franco's contract. Attendance isn't everything but both Miami and Tampa do not attract fans for baseball regardless of indoor stadiums or success on the field. Sounds like the Montreal Ice Fish /Tampa Bat Rays marriage could happen any day. https://www.tampabay.com/sports/rays/2021/11/16/the-rays-flirtation-with-montreal-could-become-a-true-romance-this-week/

Playing 2B, if the money is right, on a playoff team. A lot of positives. But he may want to go back to SS and the money will be right just about anywhere he ends up. Might not be a playoff team though. We shall see as the SS sweepstakes will involve a lot of teams.

Most rumors are BS but it appears Semien is mentioned more often as going to SS vs 2B.

I like it but wonder what Bassitt would cost? Supposedly he is in high demand.

Solid opinions on the status of Seiya Suzuki .........................................

Balta said 170 innings and I doubt McHugh can put up close to that.

Astors could enter ST with 7 starters w Odorizzi and Javier.

I don't think a Verlander rumor which ended as fast as it began, means the Sox recognize they must get a TOR starter. TOR will most likely mean big bucks and I think Hahn will spend money but most likely in RF before TOR or 2B. In fact, I wouldn't consider Verlander a TOR at 40 coming off TJS.

You have the glass half full and we haven't even made any moves yet. Hahn will move Kimbrel unless he has a resurrection. There is a back-up catcher in sight but this early you need binoculars to see him. Check back in January and he will be there.

Balta: You could be right but many FO call the shots for the manager not the other way around. In fact many FO choose the coaching staff for the manager and give him one spot of his choice

I think if the Sox find Vaughn's best position and play him there on a regular basis, I agree with your assessment. But unfortunately, next year may be worse playing musical positions w him. Maybe the juggling doesn't affect him but many young hitters struggle w lack of consistency. I hope the FO decides on IB and start cutting Abreu's games there by moving him to DH. Might help Andrew feel more comfortable and save some mileage on Jose.

Just look at the playoffs. How many starting pitchers were not available or were limited. So if Rodon is gone, the Sox absolutely need a middle of the rotation guy. Now maybe it is Kopech or Lopez but both are questionable commodities especially with Keuchel also a question mark.

He is major league ready to be on a roster offensively but unfortunately he really is not defensively. Now if he is destined to be a career DH that works. Otherwise he needs to play a regular position, good or bad , until he improves . Maybe that is LF or IB. But I don't think he is a cornerstone player if he is only a DH. More like another piece

Agree but combine them together in LF and RF and Robert will want a raise.

Yoan had a good year w the bat but you need to add an asterisk to that. Grandal only played 90 games which is about 3/4 of a season. That is coming off a short season in 2020. Yoan has traditionally been a guy who struggles 2nd half of seasons probably because he averages 125ish games . So hopefully the lesson is the Sox need to rest him on a regular basis so he doesn't break down late. That doesn't mean playing him at 1B or DH because he pretty much struggles offensively in other positions, which is weird.

I do think they need an ace especially for the regular season. But as we saw with Hou/Bos/TB, none of them really had an ace for the playoffs. Greinke was limited ,so for WS series McCullers was (before he went down), Eovaldi was, by default, more an ace than a returning Sale and TB never had an actual ace.

Just to add some perspective, I saw yesterday where Red Sox just offered a QO to Edwardo Rodriquez for $18.4

It should be a wild FA period. There are a good number of quality guys available which will open holes that will need to be replaced.

It is but according to their FO, Rockies have big money to spend in 22 . Hopefully money is not what moves Conforto the most.

Hopefully no one else has him their #1. I see some Colorado rumors but probably too early for real rumors

After watching these playoffs, bullpen is also a high priority but does not necessarily require a huge investment. Maybe trade Kimbrel to a team that needs a closer for a couple of bullpen arms.