Ranger Suarez press conference reaction!

0:00The Baskards of Boston Baseball Podcasts. Back to folk. Red Sox fans have won to hear it. The Boston Red Sox are World Champion. Game over, series over, and the Red Sox are World Champs again. Yes indeed. Here it comes. Another addition of the Baskards of Boston Baseball. The Boston Red Sox welcomed in Ranger Suarez officially signing his contract doing a presser alongside Sam Kennedy and Craig Breslow and greeting the people of Boston. He seems excited to be here and we're excited to have him certainly, but questions still remain about the Red Sox's identity and trajectory for 2026.

1:03I'm Nick the Voice, joined tonight by Chris Faleco and we are the Baskards of Boston. So Chris, what was your reaction obviously? You got all the niceties, right? To me, Ranger or Ron Hare as he said his pronounce, although he said of course he doesn't mind. You know, he seemed very excited to be here. What you expect from a guy, of course, everyone is going to say that they can't wait to be in the city. Oh my God, when I was a kid growing up, this is what the organization meant for me. But you know, it was cool to hear those stories certainly, seeing, you know, he was talking about pitching on the same mound as Pedro and Clemens and Babe Ruth and how he's looking forward to that. And you know, obviously there's only so much you can say on the topic, but I am happy as I've stated a lot to have this guy on the Boston Red Sox. Yeah, I mean, it's funny. He was the takeaway I had was coincidentally, it was Scott Boris, basically, suggesting that this was a foregone conclusion that Ron Hare, Sures, was going to be joining the

2:09Boston Red Sox since like the infancy of free agency. And he was a name that like we really were not attached to at all, which kind of goes back to, I know we always joke on the show that like if you hear a name attached to the Boston Red Sox, so it's a foregone conclusion, you're not getting them, it's just kind of smoke. So this was one of those instances where it really did prove to be true, because I mean, we really didn't hear anything about Ranger Sures. I know we were high on them as a group and as a podcast, I mean, I know Terry was crazy about him, especially with his metrics, specifically in the post season. So I'm super excited to have him. I did find it funny that they made it like it was this foregone conclusion, the fact that we didn't hear about it and there was really no one attached to Ranger Sures. Maybe that is somewhat true. From me, the real tell in today's press conference was really when it got turned over to Craig Breslow and started talking more about the defensive metrics of the pitching staff that then pivoted to the infield and suggested there was more work to be done.

3:10So I know we're going to kind of get into that topic, but to me, that was the real major take away. I agree. I think that what we had today was a real statement about how Breslow is viewing this schematic of the team, what the team on paper in theory is supposed to do and he is viewing the Boston Red Sox as ultimately a run prevention type of team. That is the success that we're going to have is through our pitching staff and not just the pitching staff, but also the defense around it. He spoke a little bit, of course, about how we were league leading in errors last year, at least in terms of the outfield, although he spoke very highly of the outfield, but when it comes to the infield defense, you need better infielders. So like you alluded to, we'll talk about that going forward. It is interesting and kind of disappointing almost because part of me is disappointed just because the Red Sox offense has been getting steadily worse. It just feels like less explosive, less dynamic, less intimidating over the past few years.

4:15And this year is going to be more of a decline, less power, most likely, less home runs, and more hoping for those, you know, three one victories, which of course, you see post season success all the time like that. Good pitching ultimately will help you win. But it is sort of pigeonholing us. I'm afraid almost where I feel like we have the money and the resources to be a dynamic all around threat, like certain other teams in the league are. And instead, we're sort of small balling it almost, saying, oh, we'll play our game on the base paths, we will steal, we'll manufacture runs when as much as I love situational baseball, I love manufacturing runs, it does put me off a little bit just because I know that we're favoring that in lieu of the three run home run. Yeah, I mean, it's interesting because I know I heard a stat today that there's no team

5:15to scored more runs in the MLB since 2009, since New York Yankees, and yet since 2009, they have not won a World Series, right? So, and I'm not trying to take a shot at them. It's just when you think about that, that kind of is pretty wild to think about, right? Because, I mean, that is their last championship. It's closer to one years than not. And the fact that they could score that many runs, and I would imagine a good portion of them are probably in the regular season, and obviously not when it really matters in the postseason, otherwise, they will have one more games and probably had a World Series. And there's almost this pivot now from a lot of big market teams that seem to think that they have to somehow be more creative in trying to manufacture runs or focus on defense, like you see the same thing with the Metz here in New York, because I'm in New York. And it seems like they're trying to get away from all these power hitters, quote, unquote, and try and just really show up their defense, because I mean, let's face it, if, if, look, let's look at the boss from Red Sox.

6:15If we play better defense, we maybe get out of that series against the Yankees, and then who knows? And there's a part of me, I feel the exact same way where it's like, man, I really feel like Slanted is going in a completely different direction. It's definitely not nearly as intimidating, and where you used to, you know, World Series teams, specifically with the Boston Red Sox, having an intimidating lineup, whether it was the Manny Poppy era, and then he had Dustin Pajoya, and Poppy was still there, and and Kobiel was there, and all these other players, and then, you know, 2013 team still had, you know, Poppy, but I mean, the rest of it was very lunchpale, if you will. And then in 2018, it didn't have a Poppy, but I mean, had JD and Martinez, he's probably two thirds at, but I mean, so many, so many more dynamic hitters that any one of them could take, you know, out for the, for a long ball home run. And it doesn't seem like that's what we're trying to replicate at this point. I think it is going to be interesting to see what we do, but I would agree with you. I mean, we talked about in the war room that if this Red Sox team had to face the Yankees,

7:17which resigned Cody Belinger to a five year deal. So they're essentially now strolling out the same team, just bringing back basically Gare Cole, right, which should make them a better team than the team we faced in the playoffs. Now I would agree that we have definitely bolstered our rotation, and it's definitely better than we've strolled out there, but I would say our lineup is a heck of a lot less intimidating. I don't know if we could beat the Yankees. If we had a rematch in the wildcard this year, like, what are your thoughts on that? That's a really good point. I'm glad you brought up the Belinger contract because that was something I wanted to talk about. I decided sort of spurred on by the Yankees bringing back Belinger. Mostly the Yankees are running it back in a lot of ways. You look at a list of their additions and Belinger is going to be right alongside Grisham, despite neither really being an addition in the true sense of the word. Those are guys who were there last year, but like you said, they're good guys who had an impact last year. I went and I just compiled a little list out of curiosity, not just in how the Boston

8:21Red Sox are setting to project in terms of each position in terms of the league, but specifically in terms of our division because at the end of the day, it feels like winning a division in the AL East is, it's like trying to win a race against the Olympics. You have a collection of the fastest people. You might very well be the greatest runner in your country, but when you say bolt is next to you, Toronto has had a very good off season. New York is a very good team. Baltimore is very young. Really Tampa Bay is the only team being slept on right now, which makes them dangerous granted in some ways. But based off of what I read, I looked at the list of all the players and all the projections, and right now, it definitely feels like Boston has the edge in terms of pitching. Just comparing our rotation, not only is the top of our rotation, really just a nasty one

9:23to punch. Crochet, Suarez, that's amazing. You have real upside from guys like Gray, guys like Bayo, even Oviato. If those guys don't work out for whatever reason, you have unbelievable depth that I feel like no other team in our division necessarily does. You can pivot to sandable, Crawford, Toli, early Harrison, hope that some of those guys work out certainly. But that's not to say that any other team is bad in that category. Toronto has a really solid rotation, New York, very solid rotation. Even Tampa Bay and Baltimore weren't great, but certainly not free wins. When it comes to the bullpen, I looked at the top three guys potentially from each pen. And I would still say that Chapman Whitlock-Slayton is a group of guys I'm very confident in. But again, Toronto has a nice pen, New York has a nice pen. Even Tampa Bay actually has a very nice bullpen. They picked up Griffin Jax.

10:24They've got that guy Clevenger. They're able to get you out on that front at the very latest. But offensively speaking, I agree. I mean, we seem to falter in the places that we all knew we would. And that's the frustrating part. In terms of catcher tandem, as much as I like Narvaia's Wong is going to have a lot to prove. We only have one catcher potentially going into this season. And you put that guy next to Kirk or Rushman or even Austin Wells and suddenly, you're feeling a bit envious. You can't help it. In first base, we added Contreras, which was a great addition and a guy who I'm looking forward to seeing. But you look at what the other teams in our division are rocking with. Whether it's Guerrero, Alonzo, Rice, or Arranda, those are very good hitters. I do give us the edge in terms of our outfield. But when you look at the Infield, up the middle, second and even third base and shortstop, you're left wanting more.

11:24And that's going to be the issue. Is this story going to be able to replicate his season or is he going to backslide? Who is going to be playing? One of the two premium positions that the defense that's being touted, right? Romeo's defense isn't all that. Hamilton's is, but you sacrifice a lot when it comes to his bat and even his defense last year was a bit spotty. Maya's defense is phenomenal. But there's questions about Kenny hit lefties and then there's, you know, questions Kenny even stay healthy. It's just leaving me at a point right now where, you know, I'm not even asking, are we the best team in the league right now? Are we the best team in the division? And the answer is, I don't think so. And not even necessarily are we close to that? What are your thoughts on everything I just said? Yeah, I mean, I don't think we're close to the best team in the division. You know, and I think like even the question I was saying, like, I, how much I hate to say it, I don't think, I don't think that we could beat the Yankees

12:28in a wild card series. Even though you can make the argument that maybe we have the advantage in pitching staff, I just think that there's still such a drop-off in offense, right? So I mean, the Yankees, you're essentially bringing back the same team and that was the difference in the series. Like they were able to come up with the runs in game two and in game three when we basically, I mean, we might as well have been shut out in game three, we did nothing. So I get Craig Grezel really putting this focus in premium on defense. But if you can't manufacture runs, like you can't, you can't count on winning a game, one, nothing to one every game, it's just not realistic. And I don't really know where we go from here. I think, you know, I didn't episode with, I think it was Charlie and Jeremy, the kind of ranked the division, you know, at the time, you know, I think I had the Yankees still winning the division, they had the blue jays, and even the way things have kind of panned out and unfolded in the last two or three weeks

13:28since we did that, yeah, the jays got better in some areas, but you could argue they got worse. Like I think they were really counting on Kyle Tucker as being a realistic option. They didn't get him. They couldn't pivot to getting Boba Shet. So they lost Boba Shet. Yeah, they got Dylan Seas, but I do think that they're often took a little bit of a ding. And let's face it, like they finished essentially with the same record as the Yankees. They had the tiebreaker and that's how they won the division and they ended up going on this run to the world series. And while it seemed like they are the most aggressive and most willing to go for it, if players don't come to you, they only go so far, right, as far as in free agency. Now, I do think they still have the ability to possibly make some trades and take on big contracts. If that's the route they want to go, which might be a little bit more feasible, because they're definitely willing to take on the money. So I mean, you can make the argument to toss up. But to me, there is a level where it's Yankees, Blue Jays, and then you've got the socks. And I mean, you could even make some arguments if the socks really don't bolster this offense

14:32that if the Orioles go back to the Orioles of two years ago and then you added the pieces they have, they could be a problem because the red socks struggle against the Orioles even when we're better than them. Like they're always a thorn in our side. And if they go back to the team that we thought they were going to become with all that young talent, and they put it together, and now you've added Peter Lanzo and the pitching. I mean, they could be a real threat, especially if those young kids, you know, Jackson Holiday, really like, you know, take a step forward here. And that's the thing that concerns me. I know a lot of people are concerned about the raise taking this big leap forward. I think they're a year or two away, but I would agree if the red socks stay on the same course where they're just focusing on pitching and they don't do anything with the offense. The raise or a team that, you know, you get a couple of injuries they could pass you. And it's, you know, you know, injuries are inevitable. You have to pray to God right now. It doesn't happen to the pitching staff because yes, while we have depth, we don't have a ton of depth, especially with after the some of the moves that we made, because we do get right up a lot of prospects.

15:34Yeah, you know, there's not going to be a free win in this division. That's for sure. This is going to be hard fought every single step of the way. We don't have the advantage of having a team like the white socks who have improved granted. But I'm talking about past years, the white socks or the Rockies or something like that. This is going to be a tough path forward, which is a good thing in some ways. Obviously, I don't want a cheap trip, you know, to the postseason just to get unceremoniously bounced. Like seems to happen to a lot of teams who, you know, the central from last year is an advantage of that, you know, how often do we think, oh, the twins or the guardians or the royals or someone has finally figured it out, the Tigers, they finally figured it out, and then, you know, they don't quite look as good as they did earlier in the year. But yeah, I mean, Tampa Bay has a lot of problems, I agree. I wouldn't, I would be extremely surprised if they didn't finish in last, just because I have so much more faith in the other four organizations right now,

16:35and the talent that's on those rosters than I do in Tampa Bay is. But I do like their pitching staff. A lot more than I thought I would. I thought their rotation was solid. I actually have it noted down here. They have Raff's Musin, Pepeo, McClanahan, and then Mats and Boyle. Are they predicted starting five? That's not too bad. In fact, on fan graphs, they rank that as about the 16th in terms of projected war, which obviously you take with a grain of salt. But that is a good indicator, I think, of exactly what Tampa Bay's strength is, which is their pitching staff. I like a lot of their relievers, too, as I mentioned. They have a few really good hitters in Aranda and Diaz and Kemenero. But going back to what you said about in terms of just the pecking order right now in the division, I agree. I think Toronto and New York are the clear one and two. I put New York above Toronto as well. Unfortunately, I mean, I would put us as above Baltimore, but I think that the distance between us

17:40and Baltimore is less than the distance between the two teams, us and the two teams above us. I think that there's a greater chance of Baltimore having a great year. All those young guys taking steps forward, whether it's Pasado, whether it's holiday, you know. And having, you know, a great third place or second-placed finish, or even go on some miracle run, I see that as a possibility. And I think it's more likely for the Orioles to leapfrog us than it is for us to leapfrog Toronto, or even New York. A hundred percent agree. I see it the same way. I think you can make the argument that in New York and Toronto is like close to being a toss-up. You can make the same argument that the distance between us and Baltimore is the same, like as far as that toss-up versus whoever's going to finish in third to second place, which is sad to say. And the truth of the matter is that whether it's us or Baltimore, both of our teams are only really maybe a piece or two away from either

18:41challenging for first place. We're completely knocking out that second-place team and putting them closer to whoever's going to be in third place. And then I guess that's the frustrating part especially for us because, and this is no offense to Baltimore, but like we have the resources they just don't. And it's sad for those fans, but that's just a reality. We should still be playing like a big market team when it comes to free agency and money when you look at the revenue and the share and the split and how much is reinvested in comparison to Baltimore. And the fact that we're even having this conversation, they're like within that much of distance with us of challenging for third place essentially, it's just it's a sad state of affairs for the Boston Red Sox, it really is. And again, I'm not trying to crap on them because the truth is we're one or two moves away. And it doesn't even have to be this crazy power hitter, like just get someone that has the potential for 20 plus home runs that plays decent defense and bolster this bullpen and like, okay, I feel good about the team like maybe we could challenge the Yankees, maybe we could challenge Toronto. And if

19:46one of them gets injuries, I mean, which one of them probably will, we could pass them easily. Not even a question. And that's honestly how I feel. One interesting stat that I did just look at because that whole 2009 Yankees and them scoring the most runs since then really was like boggling my mind in the fact they haven't, you know, they've been to basically one world series since then and they only got to game five is crazy. However, I think we would all agree that the new dynasty of the MLB is the Dodgers. So if I told you who scored the most runs since 2020, what team do you think that is? I would have to put my money on LA for the Dodgers. It is. They've scored 4,599 runs. So and the reason why I picked obviously 2020, that was their first championship of the three that they have in this little mini dice if they created in the last five or six years. And, you know, it just goes to show like, so yeah, while the Yankees have scored the most since their last world series and that's kind of like a loaded stat, you can kind of play at the exact same argument and flip it to the Dodgers since their recent success. And

20:48they've clearly scored the most runs and you know what they have the most world series in that time too. So it is a loaded stat and it could be, you could try and tilt the argument either way and it just goes to show that like, yeah, there's teams trying to reinvent the wheel and come up with new ways to win. But like the name of the game is like any other sport like whoever has the most run at the end of the game, so when it wins, right? And the Dodgers have been better at it than anyone who has been better than anyone at, you know, winning world series since that time frame too. So yeah, for sure. You know, this is one of those situations where, you know, I know our crew was split on Alex Breggman, for example. And I'm certainly glad we didn't sign him for the contract that he got. But it's a shame that the player that we're looking for, the player you described, just 20 home runs, good defense, you know, at second or third base. I'm just like, yeah, we need Alex Breggman. You know, there's an Alex Breggman-shaped hole on this roster that unfortunately we seriously need. We need to fill. And Alex Breggman isn't going to be the guy. And

21:55boba-shet obviously isn't going to be the guy. And you have no suarez. I don't think even is the guy. And suddenly you start to realize, okay, how many Alex Breggman-esque guys are even available? It's not going to be Marta, right? So reading what Breslow said again, you know, just about his exact wording were, we just have to play our game offensively. And on the basis, because our pitching is going to keep us in the game. And that's so true. And it does give reason for optimism going into the season that this pitching staff is going to keep us in the game. Regardless, you know, we're built to withstand injuries where we have ridiculous starting pitching death. I totally believe that. But just the idea, like you said, of having to play our game on the basis, it does feel a bit poverty. Like I said before, you know, I love manufacturing runs, but you cannot rely on the hit and run. You know, you cannot rely, especially because I don't necessarily

22:58have a lot of faith in certain hitters on this roster. I'm sorry to say. The infield is a major toss. If I love the outfield, I like Narvayez. But when you look at second, third, and short, you have a lot of question marks where, you know, you have Romi, who's good against lefties, you know, certainly not great defensively. You have Hamilton, you have Sogard, you have Meyer, you have story who I'm afraid is due for a regression. And suddenly, you're like, dude, are we even like going to be able to play small ball with something like that? Are we going to manufacture runs with that? Because story isn't the type of guy for a hit and run. He gets on base. He might steal, but, you know, he strikes Adelaide. He whiffs a lot. You know, so I can respect a philosophical change in the organization, but it does make me a bit afraid of how that's going to impact us in the short term, especially when this pitching staff is right in its window. And Anthony is here, you know? Yeah, I agree. And you know, I see some comments here in the chat,

24:02and we'll get to what you guys are saying in a second. It's got to place into this. But to your point, Nick, I think, you know, when you really look at our pitching staff, two of the three, you can argue or strike out pitchers with Crochet and Oviedo being the next. I mean, the rest really pitched to contact, right? I mean, the rest of our pitchers really don't have fast balls that go over 92 miles an hour. Now, Ranger Swarrow does have an elite with rate, but like, I wouldn't call him a strikeout pitcher. He pitched to contact very similar to Bale. He's just better at it, and he's more apt to being able to get strikeouts than Brian Bale. And to me, like, it makes 100% sense why there's a dynamic shift in, okay, we got to focus on defense because three of the guys, five guys on your rotation are basically going to get hit, right? And it's not to say they're going to, you know, they're going to give up a tons of hard hits, but there's going to be contact and like the guys in the infield are going to have to play these balls and get out. And, you know, when you look at Trevor Story, like, he had a pretty good season last year. Like, the arms

25:04obviously getting weaker, the ranges as good as it used to be. But like, he's above average, Lisa, like, but I go by the eye test. Contreras, he's above average. He's not certainly not elite at first base. We don't know what we have at second base, and we don't know what we have at third base. We know that Meyer is more than likely going to be at one of those places. And I would say he's above average defensively at this point. The real question from him is health, and can he be coming above average, you know, hitter at this point? But, you know, I'm looking at comments here, and it's do we trade a gerundaran and a Brian Bale for it? I don't know if it's ESAC or Isaac. I'm saying Isaac parades. And I got to be honest with you, like, let's just forget about the gerundaran and Bale part. Like, when you just look at what Craig Brezzo said today, Isaac parades can't be the person you're trading for. He does not fit the mold of what we're looking for. He is a below average defender. And yeah, I think at Fenway Park with his makeup and his swing, he could probably be a 25 home run guy on a good season. And I'd be happy with that offensive. But the below average defense,

26:10like, you just shipped away your cornerstone player who was good for 40 home runs and would have solved the offensive problems that we have in Rafael Devers, who obviously Rafael Devers is the worst third baseman defensively in the league. So I'm not going to put Isaac parades there, but like, he's not much better when you look at his Savant chart defensively. So that's not the answer. So to me, like, we're going to have to get creative here. And I hate to say it. More than likely, it's going to be someone that's not a 20 home run hitter. And like, that's going to be their top end if they happen to have a really good offensive year. And at that point, it's like, do you really want to part with the gerundaran? I certainly don't want to get rid of the Bale because if you're looking to improve the defense, like, that you're kind of hamstring yourself if you get rid of Bale because that plays exactly into what Bale does, right? Gives up that we contact ground balls that you should be able to turn into double plays if you have an adequate defense, which to be honest, we haven't, but we've put a lot of focus on. So, you know,

27:12some of the names, I know we're, you hear Brennan Donovan over and over and like, I want nothing to do with Brennan Donovan. He just, he does nothing for me. He's, he's okay defensively. He's above average, but he does nothing for me offensively. I just don't see a lot of upside. And I also think that like, we've traded enough with the St. Louis Cardinals and I haven't too thrilled of what we've gotten back compared to what we've given to this point. Even though I'm pretty happy about Contreras, obviously not happy about Sonny Gray. So like, let's just stay away from there, let him go and figure out how to trade with someone else. That's not us. I know we're attached to Nico Horner, and I just don't see the Cubs trading him to the Red Sox. And I honestly, I would be scared to even know what the hell we would trade to get Nico at this point. Like, I feel like you want to talk about getting Rob. That would be scary, but I mean, he would be like the primary guy that I would want. But an interesting name that I was thinking of today, how about a guy like Bryson Stott?

28:15Now, his batting certainly not elite by any stretch of the imagination, but his fielding on his savant chart is pretty impressive. I know that his arm strength isn't too good, but his range is well, well, well, like borderline elite. And I think about that team and they have a prospect, I think they're top infield prospects, a guy named Eden Miller. And right now they just don't have a place to put him. And the fact that they missed out on boba shit and some of the bigger names, Tucker was never really in play for them, although I don't know if they even were attached to him. Like, I think a guy like Jaren Durand could fetch you a stock and maybe a prospect, you know, obviously not Miller, but something from them. And to me, like, I'd be pretty happy with something like that if that's what it takes to show up this infield at this point. Because if not, you might also just start looking at a guy like Mickey Romero and just put him there at this point, because I wouldn't get rid of Jaren Durand for nothing. And I'm not packaging him and Brian Bale,

29:19unless it's for someone like a Kettle Marte. Like, it's got to be elite defensively and offensively. Otherwise, you're just, you're robbing Paul to pay Peter in what we're trying to accomplish here. Absolutely. I think you raised a lot of really good points. First off, I agree. The idea of trading Bale while improving the defense is kind of oxymoronic, you know, you're shooting yourself in the foot a bit. Obviously, you want to add a guy, you know, when it comes to the good defense, you're right. Pointing out the sheer number of guys who do pitch to contact, you know, you're improving your entire pitching staff when you add a gold glove, caliber defender, especially if you improve it in a position of need where it's at second and third base, you know, we're going to have a question mark regardless, you know, whether it's so guard, whether it's Romeo, you know, but it's interesting because we're sort of locked into having to trade someone just because of the current luxury tax threshold where we're a little bit over and a Durand trade would get us

30:22underneath that. A bio trade would get us underneath that too. I'm sure there are a few other things we could do, whether it's shipping out sand of all if we could spin that. But, you know, you almost wonder if other teams recognize that and that kind of kills our leverage a little bit. They know we stated pretty openly, I think, what our intentions were coming into this offseason, financially speaking. And right now, we are not slated to meet that standard, which is frightening, you know. And so now when a team is getting called about, hey, do you want Jaren Durand? They're thinking, oh, yeah, I do, but you also want to kind of give me Jaren Durand. You're incentivized to give me Jaren Durand. It's tough, you know, the list is shortening. I like Bryson Stodd. I do think that that's a pretty good option. I like Hornor as well, but I agree you're going to get ripped off there. I'm almost anticipating another player that has not been on a radar. Just like the sunny gray wasn't on a radar. Just like, you know, Ranger Suarez was not on a radar at the end

31:28there. You know, this is probably going to be what the Red Sox ends up doing. I would be very surprised if there's a guy who checks all the boxes. Unfortunately, I am afraid that we're locked into having to choose between a guy who does this well and this well, but not this well. And a guy who, you know, maybe excels in other categories, but struggles in others. You know, do you want a guy who's going to hit 20 home runs or do you want a guy with gold glove defense? You know, you're going to have to find some way to prioritize one of those things because ultimately, I'm not sure if a compromise is even going to be possible at this point. And that's a painful reality that we find ourselves in where the roster has just not been constructed in the most intuitive fashion over the past few years. Mikey Romero is an interesting name too. I just saw the the Wu Sox post something about him being like a top five third base prospect. And I'm sorry to say how ignorant I was.

32:30I said, when did he start playing third base? I didn't even realize that he made that change. So, you know, it's nice to have guys in the system, but then you're sort of taking the Baltimore Tampa Bay approach of hoping that Christian Campbell pans out, right? Tristan Cossus pans out. Mikey Romero, David Hamilton, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah, I agree. There's you go that route. You now have basically three or four prospects that you're counting on to really contribute. And then Tristan Cossus five, if you're even counting on him coming back to play first base at some point, which is just too much of a gamble at that point. And then if you're going to trade someone, you really have to get rid of Durand and just try and bolster the bullpen. And it's like, you're really going to get two good arms because that's really what you would have to do to make it worthwhile for Durand. It's like someone super elite. And at that point, it's probably a wash financially. So, that doesn't really do anything for you. But I agree with you as far as teams recognize based on what the Sox said at the beginning as far as the financials. The one thing I will give them credit,

33:31specifically, Brezlux. I know we crapped on him for quite some time. So, like, you got to give him his roses when he deserves it. You haven't heard much talk about the finances as of late. And specifically after these moves, even though we're all speculating this, he's been very like a concerted effort and really focusing on where he still sees quote unquote deficiencies with the team and where the moves have to be to fill those needs. And there's been no really alluding to the financial part of it. Like, we may know that there might be that underlying requirement. But the fact that it's not out there and that he's really making it about the defense, I think does help because the further you get removed from time and the longer it takes for the Sox to make a move and showing that willingness for us to still be quote unquote above the threshold, I think that the other teams thinking they have that leverage does kind of wash away a little bit if it doesn't become a thing where you don't quote unquote steal that pressure. So, I think as long as they play that smart, that could work out. And the fact that if Jern Derenza one in talks, the good thing is

34:35like his name has been flowed around for two or three years now. And no one knew that we'd be over the threshold at that point. So, I think at that point that you should look at it like, oh, well, you know, Jern Derenza kind of been on the trade block now for a couple of off seasons. They clearly have a ton of outfielders, Billy or Brayu, et cetera. So, it should be interesting. But yeah, I don't know. There's just, there's not a lot of names out there that really wow me. And if they do, it's like, you probably have to pay them more than what it would be worth to trade at that point. So, yeah, you know, we have some time to figure it out, fortunately. And hopefully, you know, over the next month or two, the Red Sox will, you know, put their, their nose to the grindstone and figure out which player is the best fit. And hopefully we can hammer out a deal. The only problem is, of course, the closer you get to opening day or even just spring training, other teams are figuring out their identity. They are locking into their guys. They are saying, okay, you know, because obviously if we're asking any team to trade us

35:37a major league level infielder, a major league ready infielder with great defense, presumably come March 15th, you know, or even February 15th, even now that team has probably based a lot of their decision making around the anticipation that that guy is going to be on their starting line of opening day, of course. So now suddenly, if you're asking them to trade that guy, they have to think, okay, how are we going to, you know, how are we going to replace this? You know, they have to suddenly start scrambling. Do they have someone in the house? If not, can they swing a trade of some sort for a guy who fits their, their ideal? So it is, it is interesting. You know, I wanted to mention a tweet that Chris Cattillo tweeted out a couple of hours before we started talking, maybe an hour and a half before we started talking. And he said, this is not a surprise or particularly revelatory, but have heard the Red Sox are in fact involved in serious trade talks

36:38all over the place when it comes to adding to the positional player group. This is not a, I think, a massive trade is about to go down in the next 24 hours, but more of they have a lot of irons in the fire. And, and, you know, I think that that fits with a lot of what we've been saying, what we've been speculating. And also, funnily enough, it kind of mirrors the problem we've been having in terms of speculation, because there is no one perfect player out there that is the fit. The Red Sox are doing exactly what anyone should be doing in this situation, which is going from team to team, compiling probably a very large list of candidates, ranking them in terms of you know, who they want more than another and then considering the asking price. Hopefully, we find a good trade before opening day. If we do go into opening day with, you know, all the outfielders still on the roster, that would be a surprise to me, especially because a

37:40trade seems so imminent for almost a year, you know, going back to really this last trade deadline, if not a little further than that even, but it is going to be peculiar if the Sox decide to stand Pat, because then I'm going to wonder, well, who were the names that you went after and what was the asking price? Yeah, I agree with you. I would find it very hard to believe they stand Pat, because to be over the luxury tax for this like in this lineup offensively would be a travesty, if you will. And that's crazy. I'm always going to complain the Sox need to spend money, but I mean, if you're going to be over the luxury tax, it should not be for this lineup. And you know, the more I think about it, and I think about some of the tweets I've seen the last couple of weeks with names like Masataka Yoshida, like that name keeps coming up, but it's not directly to trade rumors, but like this sense where it's like, well, you know, you have Masataka and like you could put him in the right package. And Tristan Cossus, right, has kind of been this

38:43dark horse where it's like there might be teens willing to gamble, especially with the lockout and like, just not knowing what's going to happen. And then obviously we said Patrick Sandible, right? And then obviously of Jeremy Durant and Bayo, and I really want to just take Bayo off the table, unless it's you're upgrading, like if he's in a package where you're doing an infielder and then potentially a pitcher, even if it's not one of the same elkas him in the rotation, but one that can at least fill somewhere because then you have options to bring up early. And then now that person becomes deaf, then I'm open to it at that point. But the more that I think about it, when you have all these guys, like the fact that we're more than likely going to have a lockout, like take a Masataka Yoshida contract, right? Which at face value, it's like, wow, what an overpay. But when you look at the duration of what's left, and now we're the direction of the MLB baseball is going, going into this lockout, and then more than likely coming out of it, depending on if there's going to be a hard salary cap in the next couple of years, whatever.

39:46His contract's not that crazy because when you look at like Masataka Yoshida for the next two seasons or three seasons, whatever's left on that deal, versus three years of Kyle Tucker of Boba Shet. Like granted, he's not the same player as them, but he's also not making nearly as much annually as them either, right? So it's like, okay, I could see a team that would never be in the realm of a Kyle Tucker being able to acquire him, never able to convince of Boba Shet. And they're like, all right, like Masataka Yoshida, is he the greatest? No, but like you could do worse at DH. Yet we're not happy with him, but crap, there's plenty of teams in the MLB that don't give a crap that he would be more than adequate, specifically at that money that are trying to give away money and no one will take it. Then you take a look at Patrick Sandible, we're like, wow, that is way too much money for what he's more than likely going to give us. But for a team, I don't know, out west that no one will take their money. Pretty reasonable compared to what some of these pictures are getting now. And then obviously, you know, you look at Tristan Kossas, there might be a

40:46team after that. It's like, he's a Reclamation Project that I'm willing to gamble on and then guess what? Things don't go right. We're going to lock it anyway. And then after that, he's on his own. He bet on himself and that's his own problem because there's no money owed to him. And then if it does work out, you get him on the cheap, especially because if you go into that lockout and you come back with a salary cap, everyone's getting paid less. And then guess what? Even if there isn't, he was hurt. So it's like, it's a win-win scenario for that team that acquires him. And then obviously with Bayo and Durin, it's the obvious at that point. But again, I'm leaving Bayo out unless you are solidifying the rotation on the back end or just directly replacing him. It's really the focus should be on Durin and then trying to get created, because you know what? You will define the right team and package a Durin and a Masatakioshita, Tristan Kossas, or a Patrick Sandoval. And you might be able to get a Nico Horner type player out there in the league that we just do we're not thinking of right now. Yeah. And I mean, even with Patrick Sandoval, I think that there is a lot of value just considering

41:48he's a starting pitcher with a decent enough track record when he was healthy on a very, you know, a relatively inexpensive deal in terms of starting pitching these days. You know, I could totally see a team even in our own division like Baltimore without looking that far away that would definitely benefit from having a guy that they could pencil in just into that five hole in their rotation and feel good knowing this guy gives us a chance to win. And maybe you get something out of it. Ultimately, you know, getting under the trade deadline or not the trade deadline, excuse me, the luxury tax, getting under the tax is this threshold is going to be, you know, it can't be the priority. I understand it needs to happen in the eyes of Henry. And that's the decree that comes down from up top. It needs to happen. But I agree, you know, it would be such a shame to trade bail or Duran and take less than what you want because, you know, you're afraid of spending

42:48three million over that threshold and getting penalized further on that, you know, you don't want to trade a guy like Duran who's not even making that much money all things considered just to get under that. I understand he may have the most value, but you know, I do feel like there's more avenues, even like you said on your sheet, that's a good point. Obviously, no one likes to admit they were wrong about a player, but how about a 50% discount? We eat half of it and suddenly he's only a nine million dollar player for whoever is going to take him. That would potentially be a lot more alluring. Like you said, to some of these teams that are struggling to find a D.H. Yeah, to me, like Patrick Sandibel, the perfect match for him would have been the New York Metz. And I really could have seen a Jaron Duran and Patrick Sandibel going there right now with the little Reese Robert trade that kind of takes Jaron Duran out of the mix, although what would be what I would be willing to do is because the Metz are destined for pitching. And like you said, like even though Patrick Sandibel doesn't fit us, he's such a reasonable deal and he's a proven commodity

43:52for a team that's starving for, you know, back end starters, which the Metz are. Like maybe you take a flyer on a Bret Bady who's 26 years old. Yeah, he's a lefty bat and that doesn't necessarily fit our lineup. But he's above average, not by much, but he's above average defender. He's still only 26 years old, bad at like 250 last year, hit 20 home runs, and that's playing at City Field, which is not forgiving for a lefty. I mean, I think he could probably be a 25 home run hitter playing at Fenway Park, even as a lefty. And you could do worse. And if you're getting rid of Patrick Sandibel, like to me, there's less risk in doing that than just trading Jaron Duran just to trade Jaron Duran. And then at that point, you probably get under the luxury tax, you retain Jaron Duran, and maybe his value goes up so that when you get to the all-star break, and you really want to make a push, then you could start really, you know, trying to get Jaron Duran out of here for something that's worthwhile and that maybe matches a little bit more. And at that point, you go over the threshold a little bit for a half a season and you're trying to make,

44:54you know, the playoff run, it makes sense for everybody. Yeah, you know, it's very interesting. Just a few minutes ago, funnily enough, while we're recording this, while we've been talking, the news broke that the Mets are in talks to acquire Freddie Peralta. And that's exactly what you said. The Mets are looking for starting pitching. And that echoes back to something that I said earlier where you can wait and you can do your research, but as you do, the other teams in the league are going to be solving their problems. That is what they are thinking about. What is my strongest opening day line up going to be? And, you know, I agree, like a Patrick Sandivall and Jaron Duran type of thing to New York could have happened. Maybe they could have been a good partner, but then, you know, if, you know, they get Rebear and they get Peralta, well, that's completely gone, you know, so it's interesting. It's especially a shame because if you look back at some of the arbitration decisions that the Red Sox made this year, I think all of them worked out in our

45:58favor. We didn't end up going to R. I don't think I think we agreed with each player. I could be wrong about that. But one guy that we reached an agreement with, which was quite a shock, was Tanner Hauk, you know, and, you know, it's interesting because he's coming off that terrible season, he's coming off an injury and he is an older guy, you know, he's going to be 30 this year, I do believe. And he's not going to pitch this year more likely than not at all. And if he does, it's probably not going to be anything meaningful. And then he might be back next year and then he be a free agent. So it's kind of interesting to lock ourselves into paying him $4 million abouts. I think it was actually a little over that when you think about, oh, how far are we over the tax? Oh, a couple million dollars. You know, man, I wish we could have taken that back. You know, and it just goes to show again how maybe there's a lack of foresight in the organization right now. Yeah, I agree. I mean, it's definitely with that specifically looks like the only thing

47:00I could think of is that going into the offseason, they knew that they were going to probably going to be parting away with depth as far as pitching in this, you know, attempt to try and get additional starting pitching and then bolster the defense specifically in the infield. And I think of it's Katio, someone just tweeted, and of course, it like left my home page immediately because tweets are just flying in now with this parole, the news because I follow a ton of the met stuff as well here in New York. And someone basically speculated that they're within the organization, there's a preference to keep Marcelo mayor a third base and not second. So essentially, what that tells you is that they're going to be looking for second base people that are primarily a second base up middle, you know, infield, which makes sense because I mean, that's really where you need to strengthen the defense is up the middle. So it's going to be interesting to see what the options are there. And then as far as the parole to news with the met, it doesn't shock me because it's funny. So the boba's shit press conference was today. And literally in the middle

48:02of the boba's shit press conference, the Yankees announced the Cody Belinger five year deal. So like just a little jab to the to the meds who thought they were having a good day between announcing boba's shit and then treating for Luis Robert or junior. And then all of a sudden that so there's the junior teams trying to one up each other real shock. But yeah, it's going to be interesting. I just saw that could continue to tweet as well. And you see a ton of people speculating crazy things. You see the gigantic eyes emoji having you see one of the I won't say who it is, but one of the personalities here Red Sox personalities on the Twitter is like, we're getting Ronald the coon you a junior and I'm going to cry. And it's like, yeah, I don't think that's what's going to happen. Although if we do, I will cry as well. Happy tears. For sure, you know, at this point, it's just it's interesting because you know, I don't have the time and the resources and most fans don't to go through every other organization and get a good feel for where they're at. But you've got to figure there's a perfect match out there. There's some relatively inexpensive

49:07second baseman. Maybe only does have a year left on his contract. Maybe Jared Durand won't be the guy to go or maybe Jared Durand will go for prospects, you know, and we get some great prospects and then we trade someone else, you know, for for some second baseman. You never really know. But you've got to feel like there's a perfect fit, you know, some guy who can give us good defense up the middle, not be a total liability at the plate. And hopefully not cost us an arm and a leg. We have depth to trade from. If they want something great like an early or a totally, you've got to give something great in return, of course. And I don't even I don't even know who I would ask for in that situation. But, you know, there's got to be a fit. And I just hope that Craig Breslow and this scouting, you know, team that we have the scouting department and all the guys that he has around him to help feed him information. I hope that they can find it before those doors keep on closing sort of like they've been up until now this off season. Yeah, no, for sure, because it's

50:13it's got to stay ahead because like you said, I mean, you said it best. While you're doing work, so is everyone else, right? And just when you think you've got one step ahead, you know, everyone else is moving just as fast, if not faster. And there's what 30 teams in the league. So there's 20 other 19s that are doing the same work. If not harder than you. And let's face like Craig Breslow hasn't been known to be a very quick mover. It's not his forte to this point in his career. You know, it's funny because now with that tweet, as far as with Marcel Meyer being predominantly thought of as a third baseman on this team, everyone's like, oh, this screams Nico Horner. And so let me just ask you the question. Because again, I don't think it's Nico Horner. When it tells me it's like, I'll crap, we're getting Brennan Donovan. But let's play the game of Nico Horner. What would you be willing to trade to get a Nico Horner? And that is a great question. You know, the problem is Nico Horner only has one year of control. After which he is probably do a pretty

51:15decent chunk of change just because he's got great defense. And he's good on base guy. You know, he might not be a power guy, but he's a very good on base guy. I would not part with Durand one-on-one. You know, it would have to be Horner plus. You know, if Horner was a part of it. Okay. The same thing goes for Bayo. The same thing goes for any of our top prospects. But of course, a player like Horner deserves top prospects. So it's just it's such a mess. You know, it really is. I think just off the top of my head, totally early, they're probably off the block for me. Would I be willing to part with Kyle Harrison? Yeah, I guess. You know, trade from depth and say, okay, sort of like we did with Priester as much as that bit us last year and say this guy is probably not going to get a fair shake just with everyone else on the Totem pole. Yeah, I would agree. I'm fine with getting rid of Harrison, but let's say it takes one of Durand, Bayo,

52:19totally early, and you had to get rid of one of them. Oh, that I don't think it'd be totally early. That's maybe what they want, but I also don't think it fits the narrative of like fixing our salary cap. So let's say Bayo Durand. I think considering where we're at in terms of our strong pitching and our relatively weak offense, I guess I would lean towards trading Bayo. Okay. Yeah, I mean, that makes sense. If there was more years of control, I think I would agree with you. Yeah. I think the fact that we have Bayo at such a reasonable deal to trade him with the duration of his contract, which I think adds another layer of value that Durand doesn't have. I would probably lean more to rank because I don't see Durand being a part of the long-term picture for this team. And you have more years of control with Bayo, which makes him a more tradable asset to where I think you can get something back with control. And right now,

53:22Niko Horner, to your point, doesn't have that. Now, if you're telling me you're getting Niko Horner, and he's coming here and there's like some sort of sign trade deal where you're getting him for like a two-year deal going into a lockout. All right, and that's different, but my god is probably Durand. Even though the way you're thinking, I would agree with you like philosophy-wise, the strong part, it's just that the years you control part, I would probably go with Durand. Yeah, I think that's fair. And it's one of those situations. I don't think there's necessarily a right or wrong answer. I think both have pros or cons without question. Yeah, it's going to be interesting. It's going to be interesting to see because we are hunting for something so specific, so particular. And unfortunately, I've looked all over the place, and I'm like, what about this guy? No, he doesn't fit for this reason. What about this guy? This guy doesn't have enough power. This guy can't hit lefties. This guy can't play defense. This guy doesn't have enough years of control. This guy makes too much money. It's one of those situations where the Red Sox have kind of forced themselves into a very small box. We're in theory,

54:27as much as I said, there's got to be a perfect fit. And I hope there is. In theory, I mean, the list is getting impossibly short. It's like when you look up on any website, think of like sorting, whether you're on a dating app or something. You're sort of, OK, women, obviously. There you go. And now I'm looking, OK, well, I'm looking, let's say, 25 to 35. And suddenly, you know, and this and this and this. Suddenly, the list starts to shrink. So you might not get Sydney Sweeney. Maybe she'll throw out the first pitch for us again, but you're really going to have to get realistic with your standards, because the more specific you are, the more little qualifiers, this guy has to hit 20 homerots and have a gold glove and have three years of control. You know, it's going to be like, OK, yeah, that guy doesn't exist. I'll give you one more name now that looks like it's going to be more, because when I said

55:29Bryson Stott, I was speculating third base. Now that it looks like Marcelo Mayor is going to be third base. So I just did the same exercise I did to come up with that. And an interesting name that just came up for me when I'm looking at the Cervant charts is Otto Lopez, second basement, Miami, Marlins, 27 years old, righty, righty. And again, when I look at his like offense, not great, batting run value is extremely poor, but base running value, fielding value, is pretty much almost elite. And the rest of his batting stuff, it's kind of a mixed bag, but I mean, his fielding and his running is like elite. Again, arm strength slightly higher than Bryson Stott. It's probably more like mid, but I mean, his range is 95. Like it's crazy. So that's a guy I could totally see us being on that just screams defensive, like, you know, elite guy that's still relatively young and he has a little bit of control here. It looks like. Yeah, quite a bit of control as a matter of fact, the only question mark would

56:33really be, he does struggle versus lefties, but at this point, like I said, you've got to take what you can get. He's a solid on base guy, great defense, a great speed, like you said, and it does look like just a glance at a spray chart just off, you know, off the top of my head, does look like he'd possibly be a good fit. You know, he's got a lot of homeruns and doubles to left field. Yeah, I mean, I was going to say in the Marlins. I mean, if he's sitting them predominantly to left field, he had 15 homeruns last season, 544 at bats. I could see him being a 20 home run guy at Fenway easily. So that's a great call out, you know, how'd you find that guy? I had a curiosity. I went on the Savant chart and then literally just put second baseman and just put like defensive metrics and he was, I think like 18 because obviously at the first 10, you start looking you're like, all right, these are not realistic second baseman that we're getting, but he's one that I saw that looked like it's a pretty realistic. That's a good name. That's a very good name, considering how much control he has left, everything. And I could see

57:35us trading with the Marlins too. They're a team that has a lot of needs right now. You know, they're in that weird sort of rebuilding, but kind of competing and kind of retooling. Maybe it's a retool. Maybe it's a rebuild. Maybe we're just going to buy. They've been kind of all over the place the last couple of years. Now, would you like to be able to take advantage of that? Would be interesting with them. If you really wanted to get crazy creative with them, is you trade Jarrinder and Brian Bayo for Auto Lopez, Sandial Cantera, and some prospects? Because I think you could probably do something with that. I agree. Hopefully. I mean, we'll say for right now, it's just speculation, but it's worth to keep that in your back pocket because that name is probably one of the more realistic options, of one of the more plausible options for sure. And would still carry though a lot of upside with it. You know, I said it just before we wrap up here. I said my last time on, I think that

58:38we're looking for a realistic fit. And unfortunately, we're going to have to cut a couple of things down. I even said that tonight, alongside the idea that it's probably going to be a name we haven't heard him. But I said last time on that, I just want like a two-war guy at this point. Just give me a big league average player. You know what I mean? Give me a guy, maybe he's, you know, a little worse with a bat, little better with a glove, maybe the other way around. Just give me a solid guy that you can put somewhere every day and feel good about. I don't need an all-star. I don't need someone crazy. Just even right now, a guy who you would feel comfortable penciling in at second base every day, that would make me over the moon at this point, which, you know, goes to show just how much the goalposts have kind of shifted as we progressed from the start of the offseason to where we are now. Yeah, no, I would agree. But I think it's going to be interesting nonetheless. There's

59:43definitely going to be some dominoes at full. And I do think it's going to be relatively soon because, I mean, crap, we're getting so close to pitchers and catchers. It's sneaking up on us. So, I mean, it wouldn't make sense to let this drag out like the whole Alex Breggman thing did last year. Like, I do feel like, yeah, obviously have something brewing between the walking the meds, no pun, I guess pun intended, maybe not on the note. So, like, there's going to be dominoes that fall that are going to be bigger things. I have a feeling throughout the MLB. But do keep your eye out. I do think that I would say within the next week and a half, we will have our answer of who will be playing second base for the Boston Red Sox. I hope so. Thank you, Chris, for joining me tonight. It's been a fun show. Thank you, everyone, for listening in and watching in. We do appreciate it. Hopefully the socks can figure out something like you said sooner rather later because the clock is ticking and we are drawing closer to opening day. I've been Nick the Voice joined by Chris Felica. We have been the bastards of Boston and we will see you next time. Take care.