Free Agency this off-season

[Sea Dog 23]

Did I see that Breslow traded Chris Sale to the Braves?  Wow.  The Sox get a 2B in Vaughn Grissom.

The Red Sox will reportedly give the Braves $17 million in addition to Sale, who waived his no-trade clause to go to Atlanta. The extra cash, reported by the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, will likely go toward paying the 34-year-old's $27.5 million salary for the 2024 season.

Grissom has been playing winter ball in Puerto Rico as he prepares for a position change from the middle infield to left field. Drafted by the Braves in the 11th round of the 2019 draft, his first hit in the majors was a massive homer out of Fenway.

[MongoLikeSox]

I've been waiting 4 years for Bloom to pull off this kind of trade with vet players, especially at the lame year trade deadlines when we were holding on by a thread.

I think this Grissom guy is legit if it's who I am thinking of. He was blocked by Ozzie Albies.  I just looked it up. He's got three seasons before he even hits Arbitration. Again, if he's who I think he is, this is NOT a bloomer-boy Stats-cast pet project. Proven MLB talent. Hell, even if he isn't who I think it is, the stats alone are good enuff. :)

The irony of Sale having a monster season would be a massive blow for sure. <gulp?>

Let's hope Bora$ doesn't jerk us around with Montgomery all Winter long only to not land him in the end and we're left without a chair, to use Fred's metaphor earlier. Maybe Imanaga?

[SeaBeachFred]

Grissom was  touted to be the new Braves shortstop when Dansby went free agent but he lost that job; given a shot in left fiend where there was a big hole, he failed there to and was shipped back to the minors.  When Albies was  injured he got a shot at second and was found wanting.   Just what the hell did we did get in Vaughn, another Franchy Cordero?  Well no, he is better than that, but the guy hasn't been able to crack a lineup that offered him a chance to do so.  Perhaps in Boston he will be in the left field mix but if he plays some second it MUST BE TEMPORARY.....THAT SPOT MUST BE KEPT FOR NICK YORKE, ONE OF OUR BEST PROSPECTS.   As for Giolito, Angels fans can tell you a boatload of st ories in his  time with them  this past season.......namely, he got the living shit knocked out of him and wound up giving up 41 homers for the season, many with the Angles in his two months there.  No, we haven't improved all that much in the last day unless Giolito turns it around fast and Grissom learns how to win a position and keep it.  Right now I have doubts about both of them.  Remember Kluber, Valzez and Downs?  I do and would like to get players who can help us win.  These two are question marks at best.

[Sea Dog 23]

Grissom was  touted to be the new Braves shortstop when Dansby went free agent but he lost that job; given a shot in left fiend where there was a big hole, he failed there to and was shipped back to the minors.  When Albies was  injured he got a shot at second and was found wanting.   Just what the hell did we did get in Vaughn, another Franchy Cordero?  Well no, he is better than that, but the guy hasn't been able to crack a lineup that offered him a chance to do so.  Perhaps in Boston he will be in the left field mix but if he plays some second it MUST BE TEMPORARY.....THAT SPOT MUST BE KEPT FOR NICK YORKE, ONE OF OUR BEST PROSPECTS.   As for Giolito, Angels fans can tell you a boatload of st ories in his  time with them  this past season.......namely, he got the living shit knocked out of him and wound up giving up 41 homers for the season, many with the Angles in his two months there.  No, we haven't improved all that much in the last day unless Giolito turns it around fast and Grissom learns how to win a position and keep it.  Right now I have doubts about both of them.  Remember Kluber, Valzez and Downs?  I do and would like to get players who can help us win.  These two are question marks at best.

Fred, there might be some hope for Giolito.  He was doing really good for Cleveland before the trade to LAA.  Then he got caught up in a nasty divorce (from wife!).  I hope beyond hope that that is what Breslow is banking on, that he too can help husbands in distress.  And try this, Grissom will be a trade in the next two weeks as part of a multi-player deal for a Marlins/Brewers/Seattle pitcher.  I'm hoping that Breslow is a master manipulator that we have not seen in Boston in awhile.  That is the only thing I'm hanging my hat on.  Of course it could very well be Breslow turns out to be an empty suit like you say, and his followup deal is signing James Paxton of all people.

[Sea Dog 23]

Mongo, my Braves friend tells me the Sale deal leaves Atlanta owing Sale only $500 k next year.  We pay the $17mil, but he says there  his extention as a part of the  contract that defers a lot of money in this trade.  Maybe the Braves worked out some nuances that Ohtani made available to the Dodgers.  What a week in baseball.

[MongoLikeSox]

Now that is interesting. The Braves are close to the threshold as it stands, $205M plus payroll taxes and all. This deferral thing is going to be every high rolling teams' get out of jail card within a few years. Every team will have their own Bobby Bonilla days.  LOL

What do your Braves friends say about Grissom's defensive skills?

[Sea Dog 23]

Now that is interesting. The Braves are close to the threshold as it stands, $205M plus payroll taxes and all. This deferral thing is going to be every high rolling teams' get out of jail card within a few years. Every team will have their own Bobby Bonilla days.  LOL

What do your Braves friends say about Grissom's defensive skills?

He did not have much good to say about Grissom.  They brought him up to play SS after Swanson signed with the Cubs.  But other than his bat, he did not hold up at SS.  He did get his first MLB hit on a homer over the Monster at Fenway this year.   He is a .320 hitter in AAA and I think he was .290 while in Atlanta before they sent him down

[SeaBeachFred]

Now that is interesting. The Braves are close to the threshold as it stands, $205M plus payroll taxes and all. This deferral thing is going to be every high rolling teams' get out of jail card within a few years. Every team will have their own Bobby Bonilla days.  LOL

What do your Braves friends say about Grissom's defensive skills?

He did not have much good to say about Grissom.  They brought him up to play SS after Swanson signed with the Cubs.  But other than his bat, he did not hold up at SS.  He did get his first MLB hit on a homer over the Monster at Fenway this year.   He is a .320 hitter in AAA and I think he was .290 while in Atlanta before they sent him down

In deference to Vaughn, I'd be remiss if I didn't say that even tough failed at short and left field for the Braves in the past two seasons, the guy didn't sulk when sent down.  He had a very good season at Triple AAA hitting over 320, showing some power and a very good attitude.  Still mad at my beloved team for sitting on their collective asses while the Hot Stove season kept perking along, I failed to give some real credit where credit was due.  Vaughn went down and showed he could be a Major Leaguer and here is hoping they find the right spot for him.  He can play a corner outfield spot, shortstop and second base and could be one of those versatile players who can get over 400 at-bats in a season if he shows he can now hit Major League pitching. Still, we traded one of our starting pitchers and picked up one.  We need one or two more and my man is Montgomery and the money needed to sign must be expended by John Henry for the only lefthander that would be in our rotation.  We need to get the job done.

[SeaBeachFred]

Grissom was  touted to be the new Braves shortstop when Dansby went free agent but he lost that job; given a shot in left fiend where there was a big hole, he failed there to and was shipped back to the minors.  When Albies was  injured he got a shot at second and was found wanting.   Just what the hell did we did get in Vaughn, another Franchy Cordero?  Well no, he is better than that, but the guy hasn't been able to crack a lineup that offered him a chance to do so.  Perhaps in Boston he will be in the left field mix but if he plays some second it MUST BE TEMPORARY.....THAT SPOT MUST BE KEPT FOR NICK YORKE, ONE OF OUR BEST PROSPECTS.   As for Giolito, Angels fans can tell you a boatload of st ories in his  time with them  this past season.......namely, he got the living shit knocked out of him and wound up giving up 41 homers for the season, many with the Angles in his two months there.  No, we haven't improved all that much in the last day unless Giolito turns it around fast and Grissom learns how to win a position and keep it.  Right now I have doubts about both of them.  Remember Kluber, Valzez and Downs?  I do and would like to get players who can help us win.  These two are question marks at best.

Fred, there might be some hope for Giolito.  He was doing really good for Cleveland before the trade to LAA.  Then he got caught up in a nasty divorce (from wife!).  I hope beyond hope that that is what Breslow is banking on, that he too can help husbands in distress.  And try this, Grissom will be a trade in the next two weeks as part of a multi-player deal for a Marlins/Brewers/Seattle pitcher.  I'm hoping that Breslow is a master manipulator that we have not seen in Boston in awhile.  That is the only thing I'm hanging my hat on.  Of course it could very well be Breslow turns out to be an empty suit like you say, and his followup deal is signing James Paxton of all people.

Good points you made my friend.  A divorce can really throw a player off course and he was doing well before he got traded to the Angels where the roof fell in on him.  At least Breslow is finally in there pitching for Red Sox improvement but he needs now to strikeout the side, pitch a shutout and get us that big pi tcher like Montgomery that we need so badly.  If we are to compete this coming season we need to be strong on the hill.  We are still not  there and have a ways to go.

[elktonnick]

The way I look at it any deal for Sale is an improvement.  Playing the percentages, I always thought that there was a high probability that Sale would spend a more time on the IL than on the field.  In fact I think it is a virtual certainty. I suspect Breslow thought the same.

[Sea Dog 23]

From Cotillo,

Hearing from a source that “the Red Sox have told at least one free agent target that they need to shed more payroll before pursuing him as aggressively as they want to.”

@redsoxpayroll
currently has them at $201.01 MM after the Chris Sale trade. The first luxury tax threshold is $237 MM.

[SeaBeachFred]

From Cotillo,

Hearing from a source that “the Red Sox have told at least one free agent target that they need to shed more payroll before pursuing him as aggressively as they want to.”

@redsoxpayroll
currently has them at $201.01 MM after the Chris Sale trade. The first luxury tax threshold is $237 MM.

From what source?  If it came from a member of the Red Sox front office take it for the bullshit that it is.  These guys have lied from the moment one of them said 'WE'RE IN THIS FREEE AGENT CHASE ALL THE WAY."  They've done nothing but lied their way through this whole off season about trying to build back into a contender.  The fact is John Henry is calling the shots and we should know by now that he is a cheap bastard who simply does not want to spend any of his money anymore.  Even some the Boston area press has finally at long last gotten on to his bull.

[MongoLikeSox]

From Cotillo,

Hearing from a source that “the Red Sox have told at least one free agent target that they need to shed more payroll before pursuing him as aggressively as they want to.”

@redsoxpayroll
currently has them at $201.01 MM after the Chris Sale trade. The first luxury tax threshold is $237 MM.

I thought your $185M number in another thread was a bit high, but close to accurate. Not sure about the $201M. If it's the higher amount, we don't have enough money for Montgomery with Gioloto signed.  Trading off our best 8th & 9th inning options to save payroll to apply towards another starting pitcher only swaps problems. This is a Bloom strategy, not a common sense strategy.

Trade partners? Grissom does give us, as you mentioned, an MLB ready chip to toss in. His low whiff rate suggest Seattle, but they already got Urias from us. Marlins have Aruz already, and I think they got a Dodgers young SS the year before. If we're chasing Cleveland and/or Milwaukee for trades, I think both of them want MLB ready talent. Duran and Grissom fit. If we mention Duran, I think Miami might be in. Hard to say.

Just PLEASE, PLEASE and PRETTY PLEASE let the farm grow another year before harvesting as trade bait.

[SeaBeachFred]

From Cotillo,

Hearing from a source that “the Red Sox have told at least one free agent target that they need to shed more payroll before pursuing him as aggressively as they want to.”

@redsoxpayroll
currently has them at $201.01 MM after the Chris Sale trade. The first luxury tax threshold is $237 MM.

I thought your $185M number in another thread was a bit high, but close to accurate. Not sure about the $201M. If it's the higher amount, we don't have enough money for Montgomery with Gioloto signed.  Trading off our best 8th & 9th inning options to save payroll to apply towards another starting pitcher only swaps problems. This is a Bloom strategy, not a common sense strategy.

Trade partners? Grissom does give us, as you mentioned, an MLB ready chip to toss in. His low whiff rate suggest Seattle, but they already got Urias from us. Marlins have Aruz already, and I think they got a Dodgers young SS the year before. If we're chasing Cleveland and/or Milwaukee for trades, I think both of them want MLB ready talent. Duran and Grissom fit. If we mention Duran, I think Miami might be in. Hard to say.

Just PLEASE, PLEASE and PRETTY PLEASE let the farm grow another year before harvesting as trade bait.

And if these prospects perform as many believe they will, then let's make them the building block for our next great Red Sox team----and for God's sake let's see if Breslow and his cohorts can finally help the R ed Sox start to develop some home grown pitching prospects that can get us back into a World Series or two before I drop dead. ( I am 83)

[MongoLikeSox]

Llovera, our 2023 trade deadline loot, got DFA'd to make room for a dumpster dive from the Royals. We got a 24 year Minor League (AAA) starting pitcher named Max Castillo. He made a handful of relief appearances in the bigs the last season and a mixed 6 starts and 8 relief appearances the year before. His MLB career ERA is 5.43 ERA with a 1.37 WHIP and an unimpressive k-rate.

He was part of the trade that sent Merrifield to Toronto. He had two decent years in the Toronto system. 2019 A+ with a 2.69 ERA in 24 starts. He was having a very nice year in 2022 between AA and AAA before getting traded to KC, which is about where he imploded.

Soooo, there's at least a chance this guy can get back on track if we're allowed to assume something about the KC situation was at fault. Probably more use than Llovera, but I never liked that trade to begin with and could be a bit on the grumpy side considering we kept him instead of protecting a couple guys I had higher hopes for in the minors.