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He doesn’t have an extra year. He has a vesting option with a buyout. If he sucks and/or we don’t need him he’s not going to get that extra year.

Palka also probably already in a a corner until you call Eloy up if you think about it. Can flip Yonder later to free up the logjam.

Yeah, I don’t get the gloom. What if they hold onto Abreu until this situation is resolved? Can probably flip Alonso or worst case eat a small amount and ship him. We’re not taking on an anchor hahaha.

It’s been speculated Abreu might have more value than we’re thinking. If that’s the case I think we’d be surprised by the return.

I’m not saying it makes us more likely to get Machado. I’m saying he wasn’t exactly a huge WAR benefit last year even being better than Yonder. We have no idea what Abreu can net, but if it’s better than we’re expecting (think Abrue + for a CF stopgap) then we’re potentially a better team already. And we can deploy the $7-$8 million in the market (on, say Ottavino) then we might be a better team already.

This also saves the Sox $7-$8 million if Abreu is traded, allows them to get prospect or ML value (if Abreu can still net it) and who knows, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that he produces similar value to Abreu.

I mean he’s light years better on defense than what we’ve had. That’s kind of what most smart teams go for in a backup.

Did Charlie Morton open the floodgates??

I've lived in Manhattan, San Diego, D.C, downtown Chicago, and a few other places . Philly is 100% a crappy place, LA is overrated and nowhere near as gorgeous as the rest of SoCal, but for a star like Harper/Machado you really can't deny the allure, and NY while gross is an amazing place to be as a young person (if you can afford it). Truly can do anything you want at any time and the food/nightlife/options are crazy. I love Chicago and live here for a reason. But if you embrace NY it can be a really cool place.

Nightengale has notoriously leaked a lot of stuff for Kenny in the past.

I mean it’s entirely possible that the Sox could trade Abreu and still end up better at 1B/overall. I doubt they’d flip him just to pick up specs but Abreu being traded doesn’t mean the plan has changed.

“potential catcher fits moving forward”...sounds to me like they’re exploring 1) trades for a controllable catcher 2) a guy like Grandal. Also seems like if they’re looking at fits going forward (and not a stopgap) they’re less sure Collins/Seby are the solution. But could be reading into it too much.

Yeah understand the hesitancy for sure. I just think we’re in a payroll spot where we can take some risks in that range.

To be fair he had some good stretches/even seasons before he went down with TJ. Plus he’s totally revamped his pitching style and the cutter allows him to tackle hitters better. I don’t love giving him a bunch of years but would love to get him on short years + big money. He’s got #2 starter breakout potential with the consistent velo and strike percentage (the comps are insane). Linking a recent fangraphs article on it below. He’s a bit of a younger Morton that could have an even higher ceiling. And even a 2-3 WAR starter (which he’s been in the past) makes him worth $15+ million, which is hard to believe but true https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/nathan-eovaldi-is-a-unicorn/

Yolmer has been significantly better the last two years by fWAR, has more control and is younger. I am muy confused.

The metro area is around the size of Atlanta and smaller than DC and Miami. It’s not top 5 and more importantly it’s not a glamourous place to live or play. Even among the smaller cities there are places that are far more desirable to play/live in The point isnt that its a small market. The point is nobody should be characterizing Philly as some destination that attracts players. Nobody dreams about playing there ?. They’ll need to spend just like us, and if they were well below .500 like us they’d be in largely the same boat recruitment-wise. Why would he come to the south side of Chicago? Why would he go to a smaller crappy east coast city that’s notorious from a fan perspective?

I don’t think that’s true. LA, both NY teams, SF, Houston have far bigger potential draws and that’s off the top of my head. Plus the Cubs. And BOS draws the entire NE area.

I flat out don’t understand the way people characterize Philly. It’s a crappy mid-sized east coast city...guys, we live in Chicago! The Phillies aren’t a big market team. Established franchise with a good fan base? Yeah. But philly isn’t glamorous ?. It’s a poor-man’s Boston. Lived in Manhattan until earlier this year. Trust me nobody thinks of Philly as a big-time market lol.

Mega free agents don’t usually go to great teams...they go where they get paid. Most contenders are currently at the luxury tax. The last true comparable is A-Rod. Rangers were hot garbage at the time.

The crazy thing people keep forgetting is how young he is too. He’s barely played the last few years and he just turned 21. He could really explode if he stays healthy for a full year next year.

Delmonico has been pretty unlucky from a power standpoint this year - and his HR/FB rate is likely to at least double over a larger sample size. That combined with passable defense puts him in 2 WAR territory. You can’t just look at exit velo and cherry pick a few stats. His contact and patience profile make him a far more likely candidate to work himself into a passable regular. Love me some Palka and want to see him play next year plenty, but I truly don’t understand the desire to jettison Delmonico. Too much emphasis on small sample sizes and surface-level stats.

Yeah can everyone please chill out about Abreu? The important metrics on his season aren’t as good as last year, but they’re within the range of his last 4 years for everything from hard hit % to fly ball rate. His BABIP has been suppressed, and assuming regression towards the mean he’d be around an .850 OPS. Smart teams know this stuff. Is his value likely slightly suppressed? Yes. But he has value and he’s a far superior player to Gurriel. 90 games doesn’t change that. Will the market value him properly? We have no idea. Stop acting like the notion of him getting a real return is preposterous.

LOL the pessimism here is absurd. He was almost the exact same hitter as last year for the first 35ish games. Only difference was the lack of power and that’s an anomaly (he had a 2.5% HR/FB rate before getting hurt!). Still a potentially intriguing piece, everyone needs to stop the handwringing. Is he as good as he showed last year? Maybe not. But his approach numbers were identical and he’s actually hitting more fly balls now. You’re gonna be pleasantly surprised when positive regression hits.

The way they’re being cryptic makes me wonder if something is in the works but could just be whether Avi/Nicky is healthy. I imagine both are coming up.

Fairly confident they’ll net a good return for Soria. He’s a better pitcher than Duke, and Tilson was a solid return from a good farm. Same goes for Swarzak for Cordell. The option next year and fact that his peripherals have been elite for 2 years makes me think people are really undervaluing him Not going to get a top 100 guy but probably a very interesting prospect and maybe in the top 200 range. Would love to get someone blocked at 3B or catcher, or a near-ready reliever or back-end starter. Alternative is a younger lotto ticket. Also have to wonder if Soria gets packaged with someone.