steveno89

Baltimore prospect strength is with position players, may of which are entering their mid twenties right now. They seriously lack pitching depth in the minor leagues and it would make a ton of sense to cash some of those prospects to fill an immediate need. Just because Cease has not been dealt yet does not mean there is a lack of demand out there. Sox will likely wait until free agent dominos fall to have a club pony up.

Sox farm is lacking big time overall, no doubt Take a look at a deep farm, like the Dodgers for example, compared to the Sox and it shows you how far they need to come.

Cease is the obvious candidate to be dealt, but I do wonder if the Sox entertain the idea of dealing Robert this offseason? I doubt they do with four more seasons of control short of a gigantic offer. 2024 and 2025 look terrible as things stand right now, it would be wise to put all efforts towards 2026 contention with a quick rebuild.

I take everything Levine says with a grain of salt, but this would indicate the Sox may prefer younger prospects vs. ones that are closer to the MLB. This makes sense because the Sox are not close to being competitive in the next season or two. I am not sold that the Sox can receive two pitching prospects as the headliners in a deal though. So much risk.

No pressing reason to move Robert right now short of a ludicrous offer. With four more seasons of control it may be hard to get fair value for him.

No. Sox will want a package of younger players/prospects

"Rangers: Wyatt Langford, Brock Porter, Justin Foscue" That would be a hell yes deal Doubtful the Rangers would go to that level though "Cubs: Cade Horton, Owen Caissie and Matt Mervis" I like this a lot too "Diamondbacks: Jordan Lawler and Brandon Pfaadt" This would be great, but I doubt AZ would be willing to include Lawler I see the Braves as leverage too, not as a real finalist

Now we are cooking

Light or way too heavy on older prospects Cease is their biggest trade chip unless they shockingly decided to auction off Robert. I just cannot see them cashing him in for 25 year old prospects vs. looking to acquire younger, premium talent.

Not sure I see Atlanta being the preferred trade destination, unless the Sox are hell bent on adding pitching to the system I really think a template of the Luis Castillo trade return, plus a little bit more considering the additional 20 or so Cease starts a club would get vs. the season and a half of control Castillo had at the time. Mariners receive RHP Luis Castillo Reds receive SS Noelvi Marte (premium consensus top 30 MLB prospect, #23 MLBPipeline - deal headliner) SS Edwin Arroyo (When dealt had a .899 OPS in A ball at age 19, rising prospect now ranked #57 on MLBPipeline - co headliner) RHP Levi Stoudt (has not panned out so far, but was considered to have backend starter upside) RHP Andrew Moore (lottery relief prospect)

Tough to judge Gonzalez so quickly See how he does this season before throwing him away

Believe after the seasons ends all drafted guys are fair game to be dealt

I am right there with you. Unless the Sox want a quantity package for Cease, which I doubt, I do not see the Dodgers being the trade destination. Bingo. Busch is already 26 years old and underwhelmed in 27 MLB games down the stretch in 2023. He offers no defensive value, so do we want to bank on the bat being tremendous?

This would be underwhelming, especially with Cartaya having a weak season at the plate. I like Ryan and Kopp, but this package is not enough for me to consider moving two reasonably priced, prime seasons, of Cease. Pass.

Also seems light to me as well Sox do not need to rush this process. While I think it is likely a club finally meets the high asking price and they deal him, the Sox also are not forced to accept a subpar offer.

Agreed The Cubs do match up well and have a deep farm system. Unknown what their level of interest in a reunion of sorts would be, and if they are willing to start dealing prospects at this stage.

3/$75 million and a %25 million AAV certainly helps the Sox in trade negotiations for Cease Sox would be wise to let more dominos fall in free agency and creating an urgency for contenders to add such an affordable starter for the next two seasons

I have a feeling Dodgers are not the end destination if Cease gets dealt

An issue with some of the Dodgers pitching is that most and/or all of those players are not exactly young for being prospects. If I am dealing Cease I would want players young than 25-26 years old as centerpieces.

Ehhh I doubt he gets 2/$30 million in the current market

This would be a really poor trade for the White Sox. Hendricks value has increased in the current FA period and the Sox do not have to trade him unless the return makes sense.

I agree Fun idea, but I doubt the Mets are willing to part with Baty that easily. He has quite a bit of value on his own.

Missing out on Machado/Harper/Wheeler is really what screwed the rebuild, coupled with the TLR hire. I was open to the La Russa hire at the time, but the roster has enough issues of its own as well.

Sox are totally the club that will spend $15 million on Benintendi, $7-8 million on Duvall and another few million on pitching depth instead of dropping $25 million on a player that actually makes a difference. It's infuriating.

Highly doubt Benintendi gets a 5 year deal from anyone. I see a 3-4 year deal being possible.