The Never Weres

It is December and the Winter Meetings start on Sunday. So, keeping with the season, I would like to share my Winter Meetings Christmas list. The Red Sox need starting pitching help, a Right handed power bat and a second baseman. They are rich with left handed bats and they have one too many outfielders. Let’s move onto the wishlist:

Juan Soto

Everything I have said up to this point is true. The Red Sox don’t need a lefty power bat that plays the outfield. But, what they do need is a bonafide superstar. That is what you get with Soto. A 26 year-old hitting savant. In years when he has played the entire season, excluding the 2020 pandemic shortened year, he is averaging 130 walks. He strikes out under 20% of the time. His lifetime OBP is .421, he is coming off a year where he slashed .275/.410/.519 with 35 home runs and 32 doubles. He is one of the best players in all of baseball. Currently he is rumored to go to the Yankees which has been giving me a bellyache.

How can they get him? There is not one player on the 40 man roster that is not worth giving up for Juan Soto. I love the future of Triston Casas and Brayan Bello but if they can get you Juan Soto, it has to happen. Marcelo Mayer, Nick Yorke, Kyle Teel, Ceddane Rafaela and Roman Anthony are all worth parting with. I said there is not one player who is not worth giving up. That includes Rafael Devers, who is my personal favorite player and just signed a contract that doesn’t make sense for the Padres to take on. Plus, they have an All-Star third baseman who is worth a good chunk of change already. But, I am just stating in a one-to-one comparison, the answer is Soto.

This trade is two-fold. It gives the Red Sox a no-doubt star. It keeps Soto away from the Yankees who, fingers crossed, don’t have enough to get him. The issue is signing him. Soto is represented by Scott Boras, who always takes his clients to free agency. This is something that could possibly make the package for Soto smaller.

Personally, I don’t think the Red Sox are really in the running for Shohei Ohtani. I do think they will make a bid on Yoshinobu Yamamoto (who fits the biggest need and makes sense for their big free agency signing). Yamamoto is an unknown commodity and Shohei doesn’t seem likely. I know what Soto is and he can anchor the Red Sox with Devers for the next decade.

It’s not a list. It is one player but I truly believe Juan Soto is the one Craig Breslow should target at the Winter Meetings.

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