2021-2022 Hot Stove

[BigKen]

Red Sox have approached Kyle Schwarber about resigning with the team for 2022 and beyond. No details about the length or the amount. If he gets more than 2 years it be Chaim Bloom's first for more since taking over as the Sox's GM.

The Series hasn't started and the stove is warming.

 

[navamind]

Sox made a multi-year offer to Eduardo. He had a down year on the surface but I think his season was dragged down by a bad stretch in May-June. He had a 3.66 ERA from June 22nd to October 3rd, bringing his ERA down from 6.21 to 4.74. A down season for Eduardo but he still had a 100 ERA+ and he did stay healthy (though he's never really had any arm injuries). Eduardo did have career bests in K/9, BB/9, FIP and xFIP, suggesting he was much better than his ERA would indicate. He had a .363 BABIP allowed which is just asinine, and I wouldn't expect that to be the case again in 2022. I think the rotation with Eduardo's return would be pretty good, but I do think they should try to get another starter on a multi-year deal with Eovaldi hitting free agency next year.

I would like to see them go for a utility player. I'd love Chris Taylor but I do worry a bit about signing someone his age to a long term deal. If they could pry someone like Ian Happ, I'd be ecstatic.

 

[BigKen]

Here we are in March 2022. The lockout is over and baseball still seems like it's stuck in quicksand.

Eduardo is with the Tiggers. Somehow Jackie Bradley Jr. is back in CF. Schwarber is being courted like bitch in heat. Renfo is gone.

Are plane tickets to Florida expensive? I just left the Florida panhandle two weeks ago and the last thing anyone was talking about was baseball. One of few places on earth where people wear parkas because the temp drops below 60.

The snow won't stop until spring training starts.

 

[catman]

Chris Sale won't be ready to start the season this year. Stress fracture of a rib. He should miss around 3 weeks.

 

[BigKen]

Read Sox have agreed to a contract with Trevor Story.

Free-agent shortstop Trevor Story has reached an agreement with the Boston Red Sox, confirms Jim Bowden of CBS Sports HQ. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports the deal is for six years and $140 million. The deal includes an opt-out clause for Story after the fourth year, per Jeff Passan of ESPN.

Story, 29 years old, entered free agency on a down note. He had his worst offensive showing in years last season, batting .251/.329/.471 (103 OPS+) with 24 home runs and 20 stolen bases (on 26 tries) while spending the entire season with the Colorado Rockies. That, plus questions about his long-term position stemming from a decline in arm strength, caused CBS Sports to rank him as the 11th best free agent available entering the offseason. Here's what we wrote:

If you scroll through Story's Baseball-Reference page, you'll click away thinking his offense underwhelmed while his defense remained rock solid in his walk year. The truth is the opposite. Story's topline results at the plate were his worst in years, but his underlying measures (exit velocity and launch-angle bins) aligned with his 2019-20 campaigns just fine. The area where decline was most evident with his game was in the field, particularly his arm. He made nearly as many throwing errors last season (11) as he did the previous two years combined (12). Perhaps the offseason will allow Story to rest his weary elbow, yet some teams may already view him as a second baseman. (Heck, one team was reportedly interested in making him a center fielder at the deadline.) Factor in the lingering concerns about his home/road splits (over the last three seasons his OPS was more than 200 points higher at Coors Field) and the bloated shortstop market, and he might end up serving as the winter's Marcus Semien, settling for a pillow contract before landing the mattress next year.

Story will now get a chance to reestablish himself as an All-Star. He made the team in 2018 and 2019. He's finished in the top 12 of MVP voting three times. In 2018-20, he hit a combined .292/.355/.554 (123 OPS+) while posting 162-game averages of 42 doubles, seven triples, 37 homers, 99 RBI, 108 runs, 29 steals and 6.5 WAR.

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