The Red Sox have had a number of months now to get their home so as.
Once it turned clear {that a} third final place end in 4 years was imminent, the membership moved on from chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and handed the keys to Craig Breslow. Since then the newly-minted baseball boss has principally labored behind the scenes, enmeshing himself within the organizations and formulating a plan for learn how to construct the Red Sox again right into a contender.
That adjustments this week, and within the coming days we must always see Breslow lastly start executing his imaginative and prescient.
Over the following 4 days the baseball world will collect in Nashville for the annual Winter Meetings, which have traditionally served because the offseason’s largest hotbed of exercise. Deals will get carried out, trades will probably be made, and by subsequent week baseball’s new panorama ought to come into focus.
The Red Sox are anticipated to be lively, however past addressing their very own wants there will probably be different occasions with industry-wide implications that may have an effect on the membership as properly, chief amongst them the MLB Draft Lottery and the Rule 5 Draft.
So what ought to followers count on within the coming days? Here’s every part it’s essential to find out about this yr’s Winter Meetings.
Hot Stove heats up
Last offseason the free agent market was successfully frozen for the primary month after the World Series, however as soon as the Winter Meetings started in San Diego the dam broke and large offers started breaking left and proper.
Justin Verlander. Aaron Judge. Trea Turner. Xander Bogaerts. All got here off the board in fast succession, and issues solely picked up from there.
Expect comparable momentum to construct within the coming days.
The largest fish within the pond this yr is Shohei Ohtani, who is predicted to land the biggest contract in MLB historical past. The two-way celebrity simply received his second unanimous MVP award, and despite the fact that he received’t pitch in 2024 after present process elbow surgical procedure, he’ll nonetheless be extremely coveted.
Ohtani must be the primary and largest domino to fall, and as soon as he resets the market we’ll probably see the opposite huge names begin coming off the board.
For the Red Sox, beginning pitching is the precedence, and there are many arms available. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell characterize three of the highest starters obtainable and Boston is predicted to be closely concerned with all of them.
Boston can also be searching for a right-handed bat, an improve at second base and presumably one other outfielder. The membership additionally must decide on whether or not or to not re-sign Justin Turner or go in a distinct path at designated hitter.
Trade market
Where Ohtani looms as the most important identify on the free agent market, Juan Soto as soon as once more ranks as the large prize on the commerce market.
One and a half seasons after touchdown the three-time All-Star on the commerce deadline for a large haul of prospects, the San Diego Padres are anticipated to maneuver Soto and his projected $33 million wage in a bid to chop payroll. Because Soto is now just one yr away from free company he received’t command the unimaginable value San Diego initially paid, however the Padres can nonetheless fairly count on not less than two prime 100 prospects in return.
In addition to Soto, a number of different standout pitchers are additionally believed to be on the commerce block, together with Chicago’s Dylan Cease, Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes, Tampa Bay’s Tyler Glasnow and Cleveland’s Shane Bieber.
With a rejuvenated farm system and a surplus of younger center infield expertise, the Red Sox are properly positioned to swing some offers to bolster their huge league roster, one thing they haven’t carried out a lot of over the previous 4 or 5 years. The membership might additionally discover a commerce of beginning proper fielder Alex Verdugo, who can also be one yr away from free company and faces an unsure future with the membership.
Nemeses up for Hall
One of the primary issues on the agenda this week in Nashville would be the Hall of Fame’s Contemporary Era Committee election, throughout which eight longtime managers, executives and umpires will probably be thought-about for enshrinement in Cooperstown.
Though not one of the candidates had direct ties to the Red Sox, all 4 managers have been notable opponents at one level or one other.
Davey Johnson and Jim Leyland managed towards the Red Sox in memorable playoff collection, with Johnson main the New York Mets within the 1986 World Series and Leyland the Detroit Tigers within the 2013 American League Championship Series. Lou Piniella performed for the New York Yankees throughout a excessive level within the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry within the late-Seventies earlier than managing towards Boston within the AL East with the Yankees (1986-88) and Tampa Bay Rays (2003-05), and Cito Gaston managed the Toronto Blue Jays over two stints between 1989-97 and 2008-10.
The different candidates embody umpires Joe West and Ed Montague, govt Hank Peters and National League president Bill White. The election will happen Sunday and the outcomes will probably be introduced on MLB Network at 7:30 p.m.
Castiglione up for Frick Award
Longtime Red Sox radio broadcaster Joe Castiglione is amongst 10 candidates for this yr’s Ford C. Frick Award, which is introduced yearly by the Hall of Fame to a broadcaster for “major contributions to baseball.”
Castiglione just lately accomplished his forty first season because the Red Sox lead radio voice, and he’s spent 44 years calling huge league video games total. He started his profession in Cleveland and Milwaukee earlier than debuting in Boston in 1983, and since then he has known as all 4 of the Red Sox trendy championships, famously exclaiming “Can you believe it?” after the ultimate out of the 2004 World Series.
Castiglione was additionally a finalist final winter, when the award went to longtime Chicago Cubs radio broadcaster Pat Hughes.
This yr’s different finalists are Joe Buck, Gary Cohen, Jacques Doucet, Tom Hamilton, Ernie Johnson Sr., Ken Korach, Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper and Dan Shulman. The winner will probably be introduced Tuesday and honored as a part of subsequent July’s Hall of Fame Weekend in Cooperstown.
Could Sox decide No. 1?
Not way back Boston’s draft place would already be set in stone. Since the Red Sox completed with the twelfth worst document in baseball, they’d be locked into the No. 12 total decide.
But now due to the implementation of the brand new MLB Draft Lottery, the Red Sox have an outdoor likelihood of choosing No. 1 total.
The Red Sox go into the week with a 1.2% likelihood of profitable the lottery and receiving the No. 1 total decide, and the membership has comparable odds of shifting into the No. 2-6 positions as properly. If they don’t win the lottery, the Red Sox will most probably decide someplace within the No. 11-13 vary.
Boston might transfer up a spot if the New York Mets don’t win the lottery, because the Mets exceeded the second luxurious tax threshold and would have their first-round decide moved 10 spots again in such an occasion. They might additionally transfer again if different groups behind them win the lottery and leap into the highest six.
The Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals and Colorado Rockies all have the perfect lottery odds at 18.3% every, and the Washington Nationals are ineligible for the lottery regardless of ending with MLB’s fifth worst document since they’re a revenue-sharing payor who received the lottery final yr. The Draft Lottery is scheduled for Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
Sox arms in danger
Last yr the Red Sox had three pitchers chosen within the Rule 5 Draft, together with right-hander Thad Ward with the No. 1 total decide. This yr the membership has as soon as once more left a number of arms uncovered who could possibly be coveted by others.
Baseball America just lately recognized Red Sox left-handers Shane Drohan and Brendan Cellucci, and right-hander Ryan Fernandez as prospects to observe forward of the Rule 5 Draft. Drohan specifically is predicted to attract broad curiosity after he was left unprotected on the 40-man roster deadline.
Boston’s No. 18 prospect, in accordance with MLB Pipeline, Drohan acquired off to a blistering begin and was promoted from Double-A to Triple-A after posting a 1.32 ERA with 36 strikeouts in his first six begins with the Portland Sea Dogs. His manufacturing fell off dramatically upon his arrival in Worcester, nonetheless, and his command, velocity and underlying metrics all regressed as properly. Still, that unimaginable begin might show tantalizing and Drohan’s changeup is thought to be a authentic out pitch.
As for Cellucci and Fernandez, they’re each relievers who supply intriguing qualities to golf equipment trying to bolster their bullpen. Cellucci is a lefty whose slider and cutter each draw whiffs at a excessive price regardless of pretty low velocity, and Fernandez is a flamethrower who’s 97 mph fastball ranks among the many better of any prospect obtainable within the Rule 5 Draft.
Even if the Red Sox do lose some prospects within the Rule 5 Draft, there’s a likelihood they might nonetheless get them again. Though Ward spent all season with the Nationals after his choice final winter, fellow pitchers AJ Politi and Noah Song have been ultimately returned to Boston after failing to stay with the Orioles and Phillies, respectively.
The Red Sox final chosen a participant from one other group within the Rule 5 Draft in 2020 once they took Garrett Whitlock from the New York Yankees. That choice is thought to be one of the vital impactful Rule 5 additions by any franchise in current reminiscence.
Source: www.bostonherald.com