Timmy U

For sure. And at the lower levels there will be quite a few piggybacks.

Good list. I think you are too aggressive on Wikelman Gonzalez (I think they have said he is going to be in AA). Also, a little aggressive on Batista. I bet he spends the first half in that jam-packed W-S rotation. I bet they sign some AAAA guy for rotation depth in Charlotte. But this is a very good list. Kanny’s rotation is a real head scratcher. I think Reyes could see time there as well as Oppor, LaCombe, etc., plus I will be interested to see whether Yohemy Nolasco is back.

I hate this trade, but here’s the logic: Boston faces a roster crunch. They’re gonna have to DFA this guy, so they ask around for trade proposals. They Sox like the guy enough that Boston knows he ain’t getting past waivers, so they take less than he’s worth so they don’t let him go for nothing. They reports are good on Fajardo, but DSL pitcher is not a huge price, so the Sox were willing to pay it. Maybe Boston bluffed them and they had no other offers, but whatever.

Good trade for the Phillies. I am suspicious of glove-first shortstops that far from the majors. A lot of utility player risk.

Sox still have Wilson because he was had zero value at the deadline.

I hope they get more for this guy than they got for Brebbia, Wilson, Dominic Leone etc.

Wtf?! Why the hell are they trading Fajardo for a 32 year old DFA guy?! I hate this!

Sox roster was at 40, so we will see a corresponding move. After watching Ely kinda hate filling up 40 man with marginal relievers from other teams rather than giving our marginal relievers a shot.

Maybe they need a carpenter.

Agreed, but there is one more important point: Sox system is very full right now. Easy to add elite talent to one of the teams but the rotations and line ups are very crowded everywhere above the Complex league. If you add 40/45 type players who are not ready for AA, they wouldn’t have any place to play. The rotations of Birmingham and W-S are full. Position player group at W-S and Kanny also full.

Dominguez is penciled in to play left, but that is an easy position for the Yanks to play the hot hand. I will believe Dominguez gets 500 at bats for them when I see it.

Mayo appears to be the consensus favorite. I just don’t see it. O’Hearn is darn good. Mountcastle is a solid righty bat who plays 1b/dh. O’Neill is gonna take the righty at bats in right field, plus Kjerstad has to get time. Maybe there are at bats to be had at 3b, but that means Westburg is either hurt or playing 2b because Holliday has failed to make the team. If the Yankees believed in Dominguez, they wouldn’t be spending $50 mil on Bellinger. Wilson is a good player, but lacks impact. I would bet Jobe of those 4, but I would rather have the field. Look at last year. No one had Gil. Someone like Burke could grab it as a more experienced player who gets a full season. RoY is really hard to predict.

It would be 1 year of Tucker for 3 years of Robert. Not a horrible trade.

I see your point. Here are some counterpoints: You promote him because you want PPI draft picks. And not just rookie year. The Royals got one cuz Witt Jr. finished second in the MVP voting. Or maybe you want to get his struggles in adjusting to the majors out of the way ASAP, while you still suck. The Sox are going to be breaking in 3/4 of their line up in the next 2-3 years. Better to not have them all be rookies at the same time? It has never been a harder transition. Finally, maybe they want something, anything, that is interesting to watch about their baseball team. Keeping him down for a while makes sense, but I don’t think it is the only choice here.

Thanks for posting this. The whole interview is awesome. Ely is really high on Schultz, obviously. Very high on Carela. Loves Cannon. Thinks Thorpe is going to figure it out. Iriarte has upside, but there is a lot to do. High praise for Garret Schonle and Adisyn Coffey too.

4.2 fWAR

Our movie would star Cody Bellinger and he wouldn’t be young. Like Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School only way less funny. Billion. Dollars.

I’ll take the two obvious candidates: Luis Robert. In the minors: Colson Montgomery. Deeper pick: Eder, as a reliever. Breakouts: Bonemer and Ronny Hernandez taps into his power this year to be a legit top 20 guy in the system.

Houston’s system is so bad, the only guy worth trading for is the guy they just got. Leon and Whitcomb are DFA candidates the moment they hit the Sox system Ala Corey Julks. I could see trading Robert for Cam Smith, though. I wouldn’t prefer it, but I could see it.

Cannot be announced before Jan 15. Window closes like a week later. A decision will be announced sometime mid to late January.

I think it is a great comparison… in that I would take Buxton OR Robert over 3 45 prospects and Fletcher playing cf in Chicago.

Wishful thinking?

It appears you and I value players differently. First of all, yeah some 45 guys turn into highly productive players. Most don’t. Hence, 45. Plus, the Sox are in Hell. The best way out is to find at least 1 impact bat. That’s why Getz is looking for upside. Braden Montgomery may never be able to hit in the mlb, but if he does, there’s 40 HR power potential. Robert still has that kind of potential too. Ha-seong Kim is an average major league hitter who derives most of his value from playing great defense. Not the kind of guy you build a team around. Also, he plays the same position as one of the Sox top prospects. So, I bet you they aren’t giving him $55 mil. If you trade Robert, that money is going right into Jerry’s pocket. I’d rather see it on the field.

Or a billion dollar movie idea!

If Jerry wants to dump $15 mil to get this payroll under $50 mil or whatever it's going to be, there is no hope ever no matter who they acquire for anybody. Max Kepler just got $10 mil.