The final piece!

Sure the joke is old, but still makes me chuckle.

Can Tommy catch? The Red Sox do not have a catcher any longer.

I don't follow these things too closely, can a more knowledgeable Red Sox fan enlighten me as to the point of this acquisition? Yes, I know the the Red Sox OF is bad, but this is hardly moving the needle.

Still not clear to me. Are the buying or tanking?

Still not clear to me. Are the buying or tanking?

You don’t know Tommy Pham well enough to be able to make that joke. He will hunt you down and slap you.

If you're not trying to win, better to just see what guys like Jaylin Davis can do in two months.

Pham is philler.

I don't follow these things too closely, can a more knowledgeable Red Sox fan enlighten me as to the point of this acquisition? Yes, I know the the Red Sox OF is bad, but this is hardly moving the needle.

There was some speculation on the MLB Network that Pham’s acquisition is a precursor to a JD Martinez trade.

Pham seems like a good fit for this outfield. He's right-handed, and he can also hit, which are both in high demand.

Pham seems like a good fit for this outfield. He's right-handed, and he can also hit, which are both in high demand.

Over his last 1000 PA, he has an OPS+ of 94.

Though now that I look at the Sox OF, that would indeed be an improvement.

Oy, shoulda just kept Renfroe.

Did they trade Xander’s glove and not tell him?

Well, presumably this may mean the Franchy Cordero OF experiment is nearing its conclusion.

94 OPS+, that's superstar level in Boston these days!

Pham seems like a good fit for this outfield. He's right-handed, and he can also hit, which are both in high demand.

Well they had a guy who could do these things last year but they changed him over for JBJ. You remember Hunter (2WAR this season so far) Renfroe?

Oy, shoulda just kept Renfroe.

This is 100% speculation on my part, but Renfroe had an awful ALCS last year--it was like watching an utterly broken player for those 6 games--and I wonder if the Red Sox thought (a) he's about to get relatively expensive in arbitration, (b) still has years of control that is a valuable asset we can flip, and (c) may not be worth the arb $ if this is how he performs in the playoffs (honestly he looked utterly adrift in that series, to where you wondered if animal sacrifice or an intervention would be needed).

The JBJ contract was the cost of getting the extra 2 prospects in the deal (which, naturally, at least this year don't seem to have worked out), but I think the Red Sox initially thought they'd be playing JBJ as a defensive sub and against RHP only, and, well... that part hasn't worked out. Hernandez got hurt, Arroyo got hurt, and suddenly Franchy Cordero is patrolling RF.

Pham is the sort of guy who's on a reasonable deal for next year ($6 mil), and could get flipped at the deadline if the Red Sox are out of it, and might get you a lottery ticket or two if he's playing well next year--this seems like the sort of deal you want to do if you're Bloom and you don't think you're going to be in the playoffs in 2023 (and I suspect Bloom is realistic that it's unlikely to be the case). Always keep moveable parts around you can flip for lottery tickets; even if you hit on only 1 out of 10-15 that's still useful business if the up-front cost isn't a lot (and in the case of Pham it won't be).

I still am really kind of hoping that all the $ cleared from the books for 2023 means they blow away Devers with a massive offer, but I think the Xander ship has sailed and they'll take the draft pick when he turns down the QO... But I was looking at the teams in need of a SS and I wasn't really seeing a crazy-obvious fit for Bogaerts. I mean, maybe Philly makes a huge offer? But they already have 5 guys making $20 mil/year, are they really going to add a 6th? I'm skeptical.

Red Sox have now flipped Jake Diekman for Reese McGuire so they now have a "major-league" catcher.

THE PLAYOFF PUSH STARTS TONIGHT

[/sarcasm]

But I was looking at the teams in need of a SS and I wasn't really seeing a crazy-obvious fit for Bogaerts. I mean, maybe Philly makes a huge offer? But they already have 5 guys making $20 mil/year, are they really going to add a 6th? I'm skeptical.

I don't think the Yankees would think twice about dropping IKF if Bogaerts were available.

There was some speculation on the MLB Network that Pham’s acquisition is a precursor to a JD Martinez trade.

This is the only way it makes sense to me.

Pham is philler.

You are not a phan of this deal?

You are not a phan of this deal?

##### no.

Seriously, though, I can't like it and I can't not like it. It's filler. He's not part of the future of this team (beyond the immediate future).


wow...p h u c k gets nannied. Impressive.

Red Sox have now flipped Jake Diekman for Reese McGuire so they now have a "major-league" catcher.

Salary dump. What are they up to?

It’s pronounced “phaaaack.”

Salary dump. What are they up to?

They're up to regret for having signed Diekman for 2 years.

There was some speculation on the MLB Network that Pham’s acquisition is a precursor to a JD Martinez trade.

This is the only way it makes sense to me.

That makes no sense to me. Like, if Boston trades Martinez they don't really need Pham for the next 2 months any more than if they don't trade Martinez. The main value they get from Pham is one less reason for Franchy Cordero to play defense, but they can get that simply by signing Joe Bivens and playing him instead of Cordero. It's not a precursor to Martinez being traded.

It may be Pham is the answer to the question of whether they pick up JBJ's option for 2023. He has a weird deal where it's either a $12 million mutual option or an $8 million buyout. I'd guess after this year JBJ would want to pickup the option, and because the marginal cost is only $4 mil, I can see a world where the Red Sox feel that the $4 mil can be spent better to replace him, so why not just stick with him. Pham's mutual option is $6 mil for 2023. Now, it's completely possible Pham thinks he can do better than 1/$6, and maybe he can, but this gives you a bit of a hedge and some OF options that--at the moment--the Red Sox sort of lack (especially if they think Duran isn't a long-term option).

The closest I ever got to being a pro athlete was when Vince McMahon offered to bill me as "The World's Largest Midget Wrestler".

It may be Pham is the answer to the question of whether they pick up JBJ's option for 2023. He has a weird deal where it's either a $12 million mutual option or an $8 million buyout. I'd guess after this year JBJ would want to pickup the option, and because the marginal cost is only $4 mil, I can see a world where the Red Sox feel that the $4 mil can be spent better to replace him, so why not just stick with him. Pham's mutual option is $6 mil for 2023. Now, it's completely possible Pham thinks he can do better than 1/$6, and maybe he can, but this gives you a bit of a hedge and some OF options that--at the moment--the Red Sox sort of lack (especially if they think Duran isn't a long-term option).

Oh boy, $18 million for TWO shitty outfielders!

Salary dump. What are they up to?

The students are planning something!

I wouldn't overthink this move too much (just overthink it the right amount). The Sox need outfield help, he's out there for the taking, so they get him. They are sort of in the playoff hunt, so why not?

Meanwhile, they felt like they got a good return for Vazquez, who they're not bringing back next year and don't think he'll make a huge difference in their playoff push.

#27--$12 million of that is sunk already in JBJ's buyout (the "cost" of acquiring the Brewers prospects in the deal). So now they get 2 months to see if they want to pick up Pham's $6 million option for 2023 or JBJ's $4 mil more for him to play in 2023. Considering Diekman was owed $3.5 mil for next year it's basically a wash move, but does improve their slim chances in 2022 while opening up possibilities for 2023 that may not have existed otherwise (given the OF talent the Red Sox have available for 2023 at the moment).

Wait, do the Red Sox have to pay $8 mil to get out of the 2023 option if they want to? Yikes, that's bad.

My bad... an $8 mil buyout/ $12 mil mutual option for JBJ... So $8 mil is sunk already.

the "cost" of acquiring the Brewers prospects in the deal

I know you think Renfroe was done (based on a single series), but jeez, it's not like he had negative trade value...
Bloom tried to get cute and thought he could resuscitate JBJ, and he failed. It was a bad trade. The Sox would be a better team now, and in 2023, if they kept Renfroe.

Yup. He got to most balls that were catchable, has a very good arm, and hit more than JBJ, by a lot. I don't understand that one at all.

I now get the Hosmer deal. They acquired him to make the Pham deal look good.

I now get the Hosmer deal.

WTF.

Hosmer deal is going to look a lot better when we find out Campusano is part of it. :)