I write this with a heavy heart. I refuse to believe that we just traded my two favorite players in Mookie Betts and David Price. My ride or die guys. Shit. Gotta thank them for 2018, dominant runs, and good years. I really hope they win the World Series next year in LA.
What did we get back? OF Alex Verdugo (from LAD) and Top 100 RHP Brusdar Graterol (from the Twins). Me personally, I thought we would have gotten A LOT more since we are paying half of the remaining $96 million on David Price’s deal. So that really sucks. I also wanted one of Dustin May/Jeter Downs/Keibert Ruiz in this deal pretty bad. So knowing what the return was we have to ask ourselves: Where do we go from here?
For starters, Alex Verdugo is a VERY good young player. 5 years of control left, hit .294, and plays all three outfield positions. This is a pretty significant piece for the Sox as he is only 23 and just completed his first year in the bigs. I dont consider myself any kind of expert on player projections but I have seen nothing but rave reviews about this kid and I’m on board. To me he and Benny have very similar projectiles: will hit for average, possible all-star, above average defender, anywhere from 20-30 HR, etc. All in all, a really valuable piece to get back.
As for Brusdar Graterol, the kid can absolutely blow you away. His repertoire consists of a fastball-sinker-slider-change up. Oh and by the way that slider hit 100 MPH on the gun. He is only 21 years old and already has a few major league games under his belt. Don’t be fooled by him coming out of the bullpen for the Twins in 2019. They wanted to see what his stuff looked like at the major league level and the only way they could was with him coming out of the pen. A 21 year old kid, with some serious velo, a vicious sinker, a solid slider, and a change up that could develop into something decent is a really intriguing piece. Based off of what I’ve seen from evaluators and just looking at his numbers, this kid has the potential to be a very solid 2-3 starter in the league. And who knows, he is so young he could even further develop and be a very good 2 or even an ace. Only time will tell with Graterol. One key thing to note: Graterol is not very likely to slide into the 5 spot in the rotation to start the year, he needs some more time to develop his pitches but I expect him to appear at the major league level soon this season.
Before suggesting steps to build the team back up, here is what the lineup and rotation currently look like:
C- Vazquez SP1: Sale
1B- Moreland SP2: E-Rod
2B- Chavis SP3: Eovaldi
3B- Devers SP4: Martin Perez
SS- Bogey SP5:Johnson/Velasquez/Weber/FA
LF- Benintendi
CF- JBJ
RF- Verdugo
DH- JD Martinez
Knowing this, it is obvious Chaim Bloom needs to address the 5 spot in the rotation and also add a reliever. Not many options are out there but there are some that could work. The Mookie/Price trade puts the Red Sox THIRTY MILLION below the luxury tax. So, what I would do in this scenario is sign a guy like Taijuan Walker (27 years old) to a one year deal for pretty cheap and give him the opportunity to prove himself. It would be beneficial to both him and the Sox because he would come on a cheap, short-term deal and he could perhaps have a bigger payday next winter if he has a decent year. As for the pen, you don’t have much left out there. Maybe a guy like Pat Neshek comes in on a 1 or 2 year deal for relatively cheap and gives you a reliable guy to pitch the 7th or 8th to set up Workman. Who knows, maybe Bloom wants to get back on the fans good side and brings back Brock Holt.
The biggest thing out of all this is we now are $30 million below the luxury tax and the penalties reset. That means if a big name is out there at the deadline this summer on a good sized deal, we can go after him. This also sets us up to be HUGE players the next two summers. One name jumps off the page next winter though: George Springer.
Go out and lock up George Springer next winter and maybe get a real closer. The following summer is STACKED with talent. Scherzer, Kershaw, Verlander, Greinke, Baez, Bryant, Freeman, Rizzo, Story, YELICH, etc. What you have to do now if your Chaim Bloom is field a competitive team for 2020, and then you throw your hog on the table and get every star free agent you need the next two summers.
Anything But E 