Baseball Offseason is in session

So it’s been a minute since I’ve come to you with any offseason coverage but hey the holidays are busy. The Red Sox keep CLAIMING to be busy and they did go out and get my number 1 offseason target so I’ll cut them some slack but i keep having flashbacks to “full throttle”. This year they’ve changed up the terminology but if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck it’s probably a duck.

 Sam Kennedy was quoted as saying: “even if it takes us over the CBT threshold…our priority is 90-95 wins and to win the A.L. East and win the division for multiple years.” This quote came out after they’ve now missed on Soto, Teoscar and it’s come out that there’s an “internal rift” on how the front office feels about Bregman. It’s not what they’ve done so far that bothers me because i like the one year Buehler deal, I LOVE the Crochet trade (which I’ll get to here in a minute) and i still believe they have one splash remaining but the names are running thin. After the slightly shocking Corbin Burnes Diamondbacks domino fell the other night I’ve come to terms with the fact the rotation is what it is.

Crochet 

Houck

Bello

Buehler 

And a combination of Giolito, Sandoval, Whitlock and good old Dicky Fitts.

I can live with that as my rotation and it’s much improved from last year with high upside from the young guys, Crochet and a Walker Buehler that’s looking to land a massive deal in this upcoming offseason. I still think we need one more consistent bullpen arm and we obviously still need a right handed power bat but the options there are running thin and at the point I’d rather run it with what we have than to give up more prospects for either need.

Which brings me to the Crochet deal. Let’s me first start by saying I love this trade and this is the type of “full throttle” behavior I’m looking for. We had a plethora of prospects that didn’t exactly fit into the teams future plans with a logjam at certain positions like outfield there were some names that were expendable. Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery, Chase Meidroth, and Winkelman Gonzalez were all shipped to the south side of Chicago for their ace pitcher: 25 year old lefty who reminds me so much of Chris Sale it’s not even funny. Concerns about his innings pitched and a disastrous back half of the season are the least of my worries. The high side is so much more promising in my humble

Opinion. The prospects were shipping out were expendable. Montgomery was going to struggle to find playing time and I always viewed him as a trade piece. Meidroth is in the same boat and we seemingly fixed our rotation so Wikelman not being in the long term is again something I’m okay with. The only piece that stung a little bit was Kyle Teel. Strictly because it’s hard to find a catcher that has all the tools Teel does and it’s the position we are probably weakest at. However, the return is worth it on paper. IF Crochet can stay consistent and truly come into his own as an ace pitcher this trade will be looked at as an even bigger win than when we swindled the White Sox for Sale. 

I’d give the offseason thus far a B or a B+ and if we can add a bullpen arm and a right handed bat it has to be an A. While i am sick of the front office being “serious” or being “In on top guys” just to come up short i am happy they’ve seemed to realize last year was completely unacceptable. We’re the Boston Red Sox. 4 titles since 2004. Can we please starting acting like it? Stop coming up short on guys like Soto, Burnes and Teoscar. You’re telling me you couldn’t match what the dodgers paid Hernandez? You certainly could’ve 3/90 and i don’t even think twice about it. If you want to win open up the checkbooks and make it happen. Our future is too bright to sit around and be idle right now. I’ve liked the offseason so far but I’m a little too weary to say we’re recommitted to spending and building a winner. Regardless I’m pumped for 2025. 

WAGERS!

Cade Cunningham and LaMelo Ball both have +45 points, Rebound and Assists each are paying +278 on DK

Tuddy odds arent available just yet but Mike Evans needs 5 receptions and 85 yards for a huge incentive so id hammer those plus a tuddy for Mike.

Geno Smith also has a yards incentive on the line so take the free space on that board

JSN +70 yards

And with everyone on the Eagles being benched it feels like a Malik Nabers anytime TD game.