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Home , Ben Cherington

The Monday, October 12, 2020

* The Boston Globe

A closer look at Red Sox Eduardo Rodriguez’s struggle with myocarditis

Alex Speier

On the surface, it’s difficult to reconcile what Eduardo Rodríguez has been doing in 2020 with the idea of what he’s hoping to do in 2021.

It’s not merely that Rodríguez proved unable to pitch for the Red Sox this year after testing positive for COVID-19 and subsequently being diagnosed in late July with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle. Once the pitcher was sent home to South Florida at the beginning of August, he was told to stop all exercise, including walks outside the house.

He had more than two months of total inactivity leading up to his reexamination in Boston in late September. As of that time, the team anticipated that in a best-case scenario, it wouldn’t be until at least mid-October that he could start engaging in light exercise on a treadmill.

The reason for caution is obvious. The consequence of stressing the heart when myocarditis is present isn’t merely a threat to a career. It is a potential threat to life.

That worst-case scenario informed a corresponding response, chiefly having Rodríguez avoid physical exertion for a period of three months. Yet despite that restriction — which spanned the 2020 season — the Red Sox and Rodríguez are optimistic about the pitcher’s outlook. He’s expected to have a normal offseason and considered likely to be ready for the start of the 2021 season.

“I was confident, first of all, listening to the doctors that were handling Eduardo and finding out that he was under real good care,” said Rodríguez’s agent, Scott Pucino of Octagon. “Even though it’s frightening to hear about the heart, you know that the care that the Boston Red Sox had with the cardiologists, how confident they were that, hey, shut this down and things will be OK."

Despite that assessment, Rodríguez offers a reminder of the uncertainties that accompany the coronavirus. After all, after testing positive for COVID-19 before reporting for training camp in July, the 27-year-old lefthander was cleared to join the team following multiple negative tests in July.

He’d been able to throw into a net during his quarantine, and once in Boston, had thrown two bullpen sessions while trying to prepare for the season. But fatigue in the second of those sessions at led to the MRI that resulted in the diagnosis of myocarditis.

Much remains unknown about the relationship between COVID-19 and the cardiac health of athletes who are attempting to return to play. Medical researchers are still trying to gain insight into the impact of the virus on cardiac health and the frequency in both the general population and athletes of such impacts.

As such, the effort to define the best practices for how to ensure the safe return of players coming back from COVID-19 infections to their sports remains ongoing.

“There’s still so much of a mystery with COVID in general," said Dr. Jonathan Kim, the chief of sports cardiology at Emory University. “We’re left in this very challenging arena where we obviously know COVID can impact the heart in hospitalized patients. We’re worried about the potential impact on athletes because if myocarditis is present, myocarditis is a common cause of sudden death. Adverse events can happen if you intensely exercise and there is active inflammation in the heart. But there are all these unknown questions as it relates to how much cardiac injury occurs in patients, including athletes, who are not as sick with COVID or may have an asymptomatic infection.

“Hopefully sooner rather than later we’ll have a better idea about how much cardiac injury occurs in athletes who are not as ill with COVID-19. We will learn about the effectiveness of our current screening procedures. We’ll let the science drive us. But in terms of the evidence and published science out there right now, the data are pretty minimal and limited right now.”

The limited data pool in turn means that there isn’t a definitive playbook to follow, a notion acknowledged by the Red Sox in the case of Rodríguez.

“There’s no precedent for this,” chief baseball officer said at the end of the season. “There’s such a limited history of athletes with myocarditis, there’s no history of athletes with COVID myocarditis, and we need to make sure we’re putting Eddie’s health first and foremost.”

The Red Sox appear to be following standard practices for treating athletes who experience myocarditis that isn’t the product of COVID. The prescription of three months of rest is standard for athletes diagnosed with myocarditis. For now, that same period of inactivity — which Kim said yields a full recovery of the heart in the majority of cases — is being prescribed for those who develop myocarditis after testing positive for COVID-19.

“Although uncertainties persist, our current recommendation is that if an athlete has to be restricted from sports due to clear cardiac involvement from COVID, we’re aligning with our current return-to-play myocarditis recommendations. Right now, there’s no evidence to say that you can’t try to get [athletes] back [to physical activity] once you get to that minimum three-month time line. We’re following that algorithm right now,” said Kim. “Now, for an athlete, three months away from sport is obviously a long time, so you’re going to have to have a slow, graded return to sport … But the myocarditis is resolved at that point. So really it’s just a matter of conditioning as long as the repeated testing shows the myocarditis has resolved.”

So long as Rodríguez is free of myocardial inflammation, it’s expected that he can begin a carefully regulated offseason strength and conditioning program in the coming weeks — starting with walking on a treadmill.

That step will represent a modest beginning, and increases in his conditioning program will occur incrementally. That said, with four months until the scheduled reporting date for spring training, a normal course of recovery from a three-month shutdown for myocarditis could still afford enough time for Rodríguez to be ready for the 2021 season.

The Red Sox won’t take that outcome for granted. Pitching coach Dave Bush spoke prior to the end of the season about the possibility that Rodríguez — who made a major league-leading 34 starts in 2019 while logging a career-high 203⅓ innings — might have workload restrictions in 2021 after not pitching this year.

Yet for a pitcher who found his inability to pitch wrenching — “Man, I really miss playing so bad,” he tweeted in August — the medical feedback has offered grounds for hope.

“[Rodríguez] is really excited, to be honest with you,” said Pucino. “He’s following a strict training regimen and just making sure he does whatever the doctors tell him to do. He’ll be ready, 100 percent. We’re very confident about that.”

These Rays show its possible to build a winning roster without breaking the bank in the process

Peter Abraham

SAN DIEGO — The Tampa Bay Rays had 11 relief listed on the lineup card for Game 1 of the Championship Series against the Houston Astros on Sunday night.

Only one, 32-year-old lefthander Aaron Loup, was on the books for more than $575,000 when the season started.

That’s how Tampa Bay builds its roster, finding bountiful low-cost options with different skills so Kevin Cash isn’t locked into traditional bullpen roles.

With the Rays now three wins away from the World Series after a 2-1 victory at Petco Park, it would be unfair to call them an anonymous bunch.

Diego Castillo got the final six outs against the Yankees on Friday to clinch the Division Series. This time he came in with the bases loaded and two outs in the eight inning and needed one pitch to clean up the mess left by Loup, locating a sinker that Yuli Gurriel grounded to second to start a double play.

Castillo stayed in for the ninth and worked out a single to secure another huge win.

“Just a remarkable performance,” Cash said.

Late-inning relievers Nick Anderson and Pete Fairbanks were unavailable after the Yankees series, but Castillo said he could go.

“I just came ready to pitch,” Castillo said via a translator

Cash planned to use Castillo for only one inning. But getting two outs with one pitch changed that plan.

Castillo has worked 6 1/3 innings this postseason without allowing a run.

On a night the Rays were held to six hits and struck out 13 times, they jumped ahead in the series because their bullpen never cracked, throwing four scoreless innings.

“We’re here because of all that depth,” Cash said.

Rays relievers have a 3.05 earned run average in the postseason — 1.82 if you take away the five-run meltdown righthander John Curtiss had in Game 1 against the Yankees.

Watching the Rays succeed on this stage makes you wonder what the Red Sox can accomplish.

Their pitching staff was one of the worst in decades and presumably big changes are coming. Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom was with the Rays for 15 years and had a big role in constructing their roster, coaching staff and, perhaps most importantly, their organizational ethos.

It’s not just analytics. The Red Sox invested more in technology and staffing for that department under than ever before. There are a few teams, the Rays among them, with more analysts. But the Red Sox are among the industry leaders and have used the data effectively in recent seasons.

Alex Cora, their former (and future?) manager was instrumental by insisting that was important.

It’s not a payroll question. Even after the disgraceful salary dump of and David Price, the Sox were still eighth in payroll as calculated for luxury tax purposes. Twelve teams with lower payrolls, including three of the four teams still alive, made the playoffs.

The Sox don’t need to spend more. They need to better use their resources. And that’s where the Rays offer lessons.

Castillo was a 20-year-old free agent signed out of Venezuela in 2014. Most international amateurs sign when they’re 16. The Rays were patient with him in the minors and he’s been one of their best relievers since midway through the 2018 season.

Castillo pitches with incredible confidence, challenging hitters with a lethal slider.

“He’s done that all season,” catcher Mike Zunino said.

Randy Arozarena, who hit three home runs in the Division Series and another last night, was part of a multi-player deal with the Cardinals before the season. The headliner was Jose Martinez, who played 24 games for the Rays then was flipped to the Cubs for a minor league .

Shortstop Willy Adames was part of their return for trading Price to Detroit back in 2014. He was at 18 at the time. He drew two walks Sunday and scored the winning run.

Blake Snell, who went five innings for the win on a night he didn’t have his best stuff, was a product of scouting and development. He was a supplemental first-round pick in 2011, 16 picks after the Red Sox took Henry Owens, who finished his major-league career with 16 starts and a 5.19 ERA.

It’s a misconception the Rays are largely homegrown. What they do is find undervalued players and polish them, sometimes in their farm system or by employing them in roles that bring out their skills.

The Rays also don’t give up on players. They trust their minor league staff to correct flaws. Because their payroll is low, they’re careful not to waste it.

The Red Sox haven’t been particularly creative since 2013, when Ben Cherington signed a group of mid- level free agents who fueled a championship team.

In the years since, the Sox have filled their needs with obvious choices like Chris Sale and J.D Martinez. It worked perfectly in 2018. But when Sale was lost to an elbow injury and Eduardo Rodriguez to coronavirus, they had no answers and fell into last place.

Bloom’s job is to take his experience doing more with less and employ a larger payroll in a way that doesn’t make the Red Sox afterthoughts in October.

1977 Red Sox season ended in frustration

Ray Fitzgerald

As a preface. let me say I’m neither greatly chagrined nor will I skip my morning grits because it appears the Red Sox will be packing their money bags and heading home when the week is over.

Let me explain. Those of us who have a passion for sports come in two shapes. For some, nothing less than a championship will suffice. If the team falls short of that, its players should he consigned to bread and water in the Tower of London.

If you’re not a winner, you’re a loser. If not a hero, a bum. There is no Mr. Inbetween. Those in this category will feel the Red Sox let them down by not beating out the Yankees and/or Orioles, if indeed the miracle does not come to pass.

Then there are the others, for whom the fight’s the thing, those whose interest is at least as much in the race itself as in who crosses the finish line first.

I am one of those. I ask only that the Red Sox be a contender, that the games of August and September be alive and vibrant, rather than mere playing-out-the-string charades.

With that as a standard, the Red Sox of 1977 were a success. They kept me interested all summer. They brought us a barrel of fun, hit a ton of homers, packed the park, and gave those of us who type for a living plenty to write about.

Still, the season seems about to end in frustration. The so-close-but-no-cigar syndrome, as it has so many times with the Red Sox, is about to strike again, leaving their many constituents clawing at the air.

I’d like to examine some of those frustrations this morning.

Frustration No. 1 — The decline and fall of Luis Tiant.

Tiant came upon hard times in 1977, beginning with his late arrival at spring training. By the last month, things have deteriorated to where he’s been lifted at the least sign of trouble.

He’s rebelled at this. Once, after two innings, he told the manager, “Get somebody else,” and walked off the mound. Against the Yankees last week, Tiant, after being taken out, disgustedly fired his glove into the dugout.

Tiant’s unraveling hasn’t been confined to the mound. He had always enjoyed a good press, and I’d like to have a buck for every complimentary word I’ve written about him.

But his contract squabbles muddied the journalistic waters. Stories questioned his motives in demanding a contract extension. Tiant snapped back, sometimes with justification and sometimes not.

About a month ago, the Globe’s Bob Ryan wrote that part of Tiant’s problem might be too much weight, that he wasn’t in shape.

The pitcher responded to this comment — a valid one — by insulting Ryan in the clubhouse, using phrases right out of the devil’s handbook.

For many seasons, Tiant pitched with grace under pressure for the Red Sox. He hasn’t responded the same way to criticism.

Frustration No. 2 — The lack of a lefthanded starter and reliever.

Perhaps a team with four consistent righthanded starters can get by, but not one with a staff that functions like the roller coaster at Nantasket.

As recently as last Thursday, when the Tigers beat the Sox with four in the seventh, the situation cried for a southpaw. The Tigers had five lefthanded batters in a row, yet Don Zimmer was forced to bring in Jim Willoughby.

The situation here is bleak. There are no lefthanders of note in the system and few available on the market, or maybe you think the Mets will trade Jon Matlack for Bernie Carbo?

Frustration No. 3 — The pitching staff in general.

Rick Wise and Fergie Jenkins, starters in Winter Haven, have been sent to Siberia. Tiant is a question mark, and Reggie Cleveland a good-bad mystery. The three kids will help, but before the snow melts next spring the Sox will have to come up with somebody new and potentially terrific or the front office will have its ears singed.

Frustration No. 4 — The off season of Fred Lynn.

The excitement of ’75 was the disappointment of ’77. But I have to believe his ankles really are that bad, and that the slump is a temporary thing. Lynn had too good and too smooth a swing to lose it overnight. It is also possible, of course, that he is injury-prone and may never be 100 percent for an entire season.

Frustration No. 5 — Confusion over the Red Sox sale.

This merry-go-round kept the Sox from spending big money in pursuit of excellence and, unless a decision is made before the free agent draft, may tie up any kids for such desired commodities as the Yankees' Mike Torrez.

Other frustrations include the lack of speed, the one-dimensional offense, Bill Campbell’s late-season sore arm (almost predictable, he was worked so much in the first half), and mediocre bench strength.

I’d have to say a dynasty is not in the immediate future, but here are a couple of suggestions:

A. Figure out a way to fold Fenway Park into a suitcase and bring it on the road.

B. Sell the team to the Kennedys. This would end the money worries, would assure the fans that the franchise would stay in Boston, and would give all the Kennedy kids useful employment.

* The Boston Herald

Yankees in no better shape than the Red Sox after early knockout from MLB playoffs

Jason Mastrodonato

Some say the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is dead.

Some say it’s the Rays-Yankees that’s now the biggest rivalry in the .

Fat chance.

It’s still the Red Sox-Yankees, not because they’re the best two teams in the division, but because when the Yankees’ season ended at the hands of the Rays on Friday night, the liveliest discussion topic wasn’t whether it’s the Rays or Yankees who are better set up for the future.

The Red Sox-Yankees discussion is a much more interesting one to dive into. And as surprising as this might be after the Red Sox posted their worst since 1965, it’s actually a close call.

How demoralizing it must’ve been for the Bronx Bombers, who checked in with a $265 million payroll for luxury-tax purposes and were sent home by a Rays team that checked in at $93 million.

And to lose with their ace, Gerrit Cole, who was due $36 million this year, against the Rays’ Tyler Glasnow, who was owed just $2 million, must’ve felt like a punch in the gut.

The cherry on top was Aroldis Chapman blowing it in the late innings by allowing a solo homer to Mike Brosseau on a 10-pitch at-bat in which Chapman couldn’t put him away. It’s the second consecutive year that Chapman took the loss in the Yankees’ final game. They’ve gone just 2-4 in playoff series longer than one game since Chapman won a World Series with the Cubs and landed in New York. He’s now got three playoff losses to his name since joining the Yanks.

To take all that, chew on it over the long winter and try to figure out where to direct the Yankees next is a job that longtime can’t be thrilled about doing.

This won’t be an easy winter for the Red Sox, but it could be even more stressful for the Yankees.

Three of the Yanks’ eight most valuable players in 2020, including their most valuable, D.J. LeMahieu, are headed for free agency.

Three of their starting pitchers, Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ and James Paxton, are hitting the market.

Their starting catcher, Gary Sanchez, was one of the worst players in baseball this year by some metrics, and the team needs to figure out what to do behind the plate after Kyle Higashioka looked like the better option in the postseason.

Simply put, the Yankees are a mess.

So are the Red Sox, but their path toward competitiveness looks ever-so-slightly more clear than that of the Yanks.

The Red Sox know they have Chris Sale coming back from Tommy John surgery sometime in 2021, perhaps the early part of the year if their ace rehabs as fast as his work ethic would suggest. Everybody has a different timetable coming back from Tommy John, but assuming Sale’s shoulder is healed from the inflammation that caused him trouble in 2018, he should have no trouble putting the foot on the gas and getting himself back into shape.

The big question is Eduardo Rodriguez and whether or not the heart condition caused by the coronavirus will affect his ability to get back on the field and train this winter. That’s no small concern with just Nathan Eovaldi and a bunch of unknowns behind him in the rotation.

But the Red Sox have their core. They have Sale, they have some young pitching approaching the major league level and they have a lineup that includes Alex Verdugo, Andrew Benintendi, , Rafael Devers and J.D. Martinez, provided he doesn’t opt out of his contract and test the free-agent market.

The Yankees have Giancarlo Stanton, who is seemingly always hurt and could also opt out, Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Luke Voit and Gleyber Torres. They have Cole at the top. And they have Chapman and Zack Britton in the back of the bullpen.

Compare both teams on paper for 2021 and it’s a toss-up which is in better shape.

Both teams will have money to spend, with each of them checking in around $130 million to $140 million in commitments for luxury tax purposes.

It could all come down to LeMahieu and where he decides to sign in free agency.

He just won a batting title with a ridiculous .364 average and looked like the most important hitter in the Yankees’ lineup in the postseason, too. He plays a good second base. He’s projectable over the next few years because he doesn’t rely on his power. And both the Red Sox and Yankees have a clear need at second base.

Which team is better set up for the future, the Red Sox or Yankees?

They’re both chasing the Rays. But don’t put the Red Sox in the back of the bus in the AL East. The Yankees aren’t any better off.

* MassLive.com

Boston Red Sox’s Chaim Bloom should have more options in MLB free agency with teams on tighter budgets because of COVID-19

Christopher Smith

Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom must upgrade his starting rotation, add an outfielder if Jackie Bradley Jr. leaves in free agency and identify a closer this offseason.

That’s not all. Boston’s 40-man roster is about to change drastically. Expect even more roster turnover than last winter.

One positive working in his favor: He’ll have plenty of options. The free agent field likely will be larger than usual.

Most MLB teams likely will be on tight budgets this offseason and that could lead to more players being non-tendered and fewer team exercising 2021 team options.

All organizations experienced significant revenue losses in 2020 because of no gate receipts and TV money being down due to the shortened 60-game schedule.

Uncertainty also exists heading into 2021. Limited capacities at stadiums if no vaccine is available to the general public again would lead to more revenue losses.

Team president Sam Kennedy said the COVID-19 pandemic will have an impact on the Red Sox’s 2021 budget. Still, it’s difficult to imagine the Red Sox won’t look to add in free agency (and via the trade market) after slashing so much payroll last offseason.

Non-tender deadline

The non-tender deadline in early December should be fascinating.

More arbitration-eligible players than in a normal offseason likely will be non-tendered with teams on tighter budgets. An arbitration-eligible player becomes a free agent when his team does not tender him a contract. And so the free agent field could expand significantly both in size and talent ahead of the Winter Meetings, which are scheduled for Dec. 6-10 in Dallas, Texas.

The Red Sox added six major league free agents — Collin McHugh, Mitch Moreland, Martin Perez, Kevin Plawecki, Kevin Pillar and Jose Peraza, in 2020. Of the six, three, Pillar, Plawecki and Peraza, became free agents last December after being non-tendered. Perez, meanwhile, became a free agent when Minnesota did not exercise his 2020 option.

Team options

We might see more team options declined this offseason with clubs on tighter budgets.

For example, Cleveland exercising Brad Hand’s $10 million team option seems like a no-brainer, right? He converted 16-of-16 save opportunities. He posted a 2.05 ERA, 0.77 WHIP and 1.37 FIP. He’s one of the game’s best closers. But not so fast.

Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes wrote, “It’s easy for me to say I’d exercise his option, but I don’t own the team. Paul Dolan, like every MLB owner, has suffered big losses because of the pandemic, shortened season and no attendance. So exercising Hand’s option is far from a done deal. Especially when the Indians have younger (and cheaper) options in James Karinchak and possibly Emmanuel Clase.”

Hand seems like a perfect fit for Boston if the Indians decline his option.

Corey Kluber, who lives in Massachusetts during the offseason, also might be an interesting free agent target if the Rangers decline his option, which seems highly likely.

Texas has a $18 million team option and $1 million buyout for Kluber who pitched only one inning in 2020 because of a shoulder injury. Kluber has started just eight games in 2019-20 combined, but he’s 2021 comeback candidate.

Fewer qualifying offers

The qualifying offer for next season has been set at $18.9 million, The Athletic’s Evan Drellich reported.

Ten players were offered qualifying offers last offseason. We could see as few as four players — Trevor Bauer, DJ LeMahieu, George Springer and J.T. Realmuto — receive qualifying offers this offseason.

MLBTradeRumors.com named those four as the only obvious candidates.

It’s no guarantee Marcus Semien will receive one in this economy and after posting a .223/.305/.374/.679 line in 53 games.

Athletics beat writer Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweeted, “In a normal year, the A’s might have considered this for Marcus Semien. Not sure that’s going to be realistic now.”

Michael Brantley also seems like an obvious candidate to receive a qualifying offer from the Astros. But does Houston want to extend two qualifying offers in this economy? MLBTradeRumors.com did not name him among the obvious candidates to receive one.

The Red Sox will need to add an outfielder if Bradley leaves via free agency. Springer seems like an obvious target for Boston. But perhaps Bloom might have more interest in Brantley if he’s not attached to a qualifying offer.

The Braves cannot extend a qualifying offer to outfielder Marcell Ozuna because he received one from the Cardinals last offseason. A player can’t receive more than one qualifying offer. And so Ozuna — who led the NL in home runs (18) and RBIs (56) this season — could be a free agent target for Boston.

Boston would forfeit its second-highest pick and $500,000 in international signing bonus pool money if it signs a qualified free agent.

Red Sox owner John Henry’s discussing merger with RedBird Capital Partners to take company public (report)

Christopher Smith

Red Sox owner John Henry is trying to take Fenway Sports Group public through a merger with RedBall Acquisition Corp., The Wall Street Journal is reporting.

Fenway Sports Group owns the Red Sox, the Liverpool soccer team, NESN, Roush Fenway Racing, Fenway Park and Liverpool’s stadium, Anfield.

“RedBall is a so-called special purpose acquisition company launched by private-equity firm RedBird Capital Partners and Oakland Athletics executive ,” The Wall Street Journal wrote.

The talks remain in the early stages and it might not happen, per the report.

The Wall Street Journal also reported Fenway Sports Group “could look to buy up more clubs in Europe” by going public.

As MLBTradeRumors pointed out, “Should the Fenway Sports/RedBall venture go forward, it’s hard to imagine Beane would continue to remain with the A’s if he is that heavily involved in the ownership group of a rival team’s parent company.”

Henry’s investment group bought the Red Sox on Dec. 20, 2001. The organization has won four World Series titles under his ownership.

Jay Groome, Bryan Mata, four Boston Red Sox prospects acquired in trades must be added to 40- man roster in November

Christopher Smith

The Red Sox are expected to protect at least six minor leaguers who become Rule 5 Draft eligible this offseason.

Four of those six prospects — Connor Seabold, Connor Wong, Hudson Potts and Jeisson Rosario — were acquired in three of chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom’s five trades since February.

Powerful righty Bryan Mata and 2016 first-round pick Jay Groome, a lefty, also must be added to the 40- man for protection from the Rule 5 Draft.

Bryan Mata: The 6-foot-3, 240-pound right-hander, who turned 21 in May, is the No. 1 pitching prospect in the Red Sox organization

He reaches the upper-90s with his velocity. He throws a four-seam fastball, two-seamer, slider, curveball and changeup. Last year, Mata committed to his two-seam fastball while also working hard on developing his slider into his best secondary pitch.

He has the stuff to be a top of the rotation starter, but he needs to continue to improve his command to reach his full potential. He likely will make his debut at some point during the second half of the 2021 season.

Jay Groome: The Red Sox drafted Groome 12th overall in 2016. He hasn’t pitched much the past three years because of injuries. He underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2018.

He’s still just 22 and he impressed the coaches at the alternate training site this summer. His curveball is his best pitch. He also features a fastball that reached the mid-90s in Pawtucket this summer.

“Guys were really talking about his breaking ball,” PawSox manager Billy McMillon said Aug. 10.

Connor Seabold: Boston acquired the 24-year-old right-handed starter with Nick Pivetta from the Phillies for and Heath Hembree. Seabold’s best pitch is his changeup. He also is known for his pitchability.

He has a 3.52 ERA in 40 outings (34 starts) during his minor league career. He also pitched in the Arizona Fall League for Scottsdale in 2019, recording a 1.06 ERA (two earned runs, 17 inning) with 22 strikeouts and four walks.

Connor Wong: The Red Sox acquired the catcher, who turned 24 in May, in the Mookie Betts trade with the Dodgers on Feb 10. He’s versatile. He’s also played second and third in the minors.

He has power. He stroked 55 extra-base hits (24 homers, 24 doubles, seven triples) in 111 minor league games last year (70 High-A games and 41 Double-A games). But he also had a 30.8% strikeout rate. He obviously needs to cut down on his swing-and-miss.

Hudson Potts and Jeisson Rosario: Both Potts and Rosario, who were acquired from the Padres for Mitch Moreland, also must be added to the 40-man roster.

The 21-year-old Potts is a third baseman with power. The Padres drafted him 24th overall in 2016.

“I was really, really impressed with his approach at the plate. He would hit a ball to the pull side 400 feet and then hit a line drive to right-center field,” PawSox manager Billy McMillon said. “Big, strong kid. He showed a little bit of defensive versatility, too.”

Rosario is a 20-year-old center fielder.

“He was kind of like a sneaky good player," McMillon said. “Very good defensively, he’s very smooth out there. At the plate, it wasn’t like sexy, but I’d look around and he’d have two hits on the day. Hits the ball all over the place. He seems like he’s a fairly aggressive runner.”

Other notes: Alan Marrero, who Baseball America ranks the best defensive catcher in the Red Sox system, is eligible for the Rule 5 Draft if not protected. But the 22-year-old has not yet played above Low A. ... Mike Shawaryn, who the Red Sox outrighted off the 40-man roster this summer, might be someone who is drafted. ... Kutter Crawford, a 2017 16th rounder out of Florida Gulf Coast, was a strong candidate to be added until undergoing Tommy John surgery. Crawford had a 3.36 ERA in 47 minor league starts and made it to Double A before injuring his elbow.

Boston Red Sox 40-man roster about to change drastically; Will keep a spot all offseason?

Christopher Smith

Significant Red Sox roster turnover is coming this offseason.

The first wave will happen after the World Series. Players on the 60-day injured list must be transferred back to the 40-man roster within five days.

Boston’s 40-man roster is at exactly 40 players right now. It will drop to 39 players when Jackie Bradley Jr. becomes a free agent at 9 a.m. the day after the World Series.

The Red Sox have seven players — Dustin Pedroia, Eduardo Rodriguez, Chris Sale, Andrew Benintendi, Colten Brewer, Zack Godley and Kyle Hart — on their 60-day injured list who need to return to the 40- man.

That makes 46 players for 40 available roster spots. Six players must go (Godley and Hart probably will be two of them).

The second wave of roster moves will happen later in November. Boston must add Rule 5 Draft eligible minor leaguers it wants to protect.

The Red Sox are expected to protect at least six Rule 5 Draft eligible minor leaguers, Jay Groome, Bryan Mata, Hudson Potts, Connor Seabold, Connor Wong and Jeisson Rosario. So at least six more roster spots will need to be opened on the 40-man roster.

Mata is the top pitching prospect in the organization. Groome, the 12th overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft, is throwing well after Tommy John surgery in 2018.

Potts and Rosario were acquired from the Padres for Mitch Moreland. The Sox acquired Seabold with Nick Pivetta for Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree.

Boston acquired Wong in the Mookie Betts trade with the Dodgers on Feb 10.

The third (long) wave? Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom will continue to add players though waiver claims, trades and free agency throughout the offseason. His roster is fluid. He always is looking to upgrade. So we’ll see a lot of new faces added and a lot of players designated for assignment.

Minor league free agency

Josh Ockimey and Stephen Gonsalves will be eligible for minor league free agency unless the Red Sox add them to the 40-man roster after the World Series. Gonsalves, a left-handed pitcher, impressed with a mid- 90s fastball at the alternate training site. The Red Sox might consider giving him a roster spot before he hits minor league free agency. Ockimey still is 24 and has a ton of raw power.

The Red Sox more likely will try to re-sign both Gonsalves and Ockimey to minor league contracts in the offseason instead of adding them to the 40-man roster.

Pedroia’s roster spot

Can the Red Sox afford to give a valuable roster spot to Pedroia the entire offseason?

The 2021 season will mark the final year of Pedroia’s eight-year, $110-million contract. It seems unlikely he’ll play in 2021 after three knee surgeries have limited him to nine games the past three years. He last appeared in a major league game April 17, 2019.

“I don’t think that any one particular roster spot is something I would focus on as a problem and certainly not when it’s Dustin Pedroia,” Red Sox GM Brian O’Halloran said last week. “We’re going to talk to Dustin and he’s obviously going to have the most say in where things go from here. No. 1 is making sure he’s as healthy as he can be for the rest of his life, really. And certainly we want to talk to him and see how he’s feeling and see where he wants to go from here.”

Perhaps the two sides could reach a settlement. It sounds unlikely the Red Sox will release him though. So Pedroia could take a roster spot away from someone who has a better chance to help the 2021 team.

40-man roster:

PITCHERS (22): Yoan Aybar, Matt Barnes, Ryan Brasier, Austin Brice, *Dylan Covey, Nathan Eovaldi, Matt Hall, Darwinzon Hernandez, Tanner Houck, Mike Kickham, Robinson Leyer, Chris Mazza, *Martin Perez, Nick Pivetta, Jeffrey Springs, Robert Stock, Domingo Tapia, Josh Taylor, *Andrew Triggs, Phillips Valdez, Marcus Walden, Ryan Weber.

*Martin Perez has a $6.25 million team option and $500,000 buyout. The Red Sox must decide whether to exercise his option within five days after the World Series ends. ... Andrew Triggs and Dylan Covey are non-tender candidates.

CATCHERS (3): Christian Vazquez, Kevin Plawecki, Deivy Grullón.

INFIELDERS (10): Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Bobby Dalbec, Michael Chavis, Jonathan Arauz, Christian Arroyo, Yairo Muñoz Tzu-Wei Lin, *José Peraza, C.J. Chatham.

*Jose Peraza is a non-tender candidate. He could be one of the players gone to open a spot for the players on the 60-day injured list.

OUTFIELDERS (5): *Jackie Bradley Jr., Alex Verdugo, J.D. Martinez, César Puello, Marcus Wilson.

*Jackie Bradley Jr. will become a free agent at 9 a.m., the day after the World Series concludes.

* RedSox.com

What to know: Red Sox 2020 offseason FAQ

Ian Browne

Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom is in full planning mode with the goal of putting together a much-improved roster compared to the one that finished in last place in the American League East in 2020. There are many key dates and decisions over the coming weeks. Here is a primer.

Which players are free agents? Center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. and right-handed pitcher Collin McHugh.

Are either of them likely to receive a qualifying offer, and what is the deadline for that? The Red Sox could well make a qualifying offer to Bradley to make sure they get Draft compensation should he sign elsewhere. The club is on record as saying it would like to keep Bradley, so this would be the first step toward that.

Which players have an option, what’s the dollar figure and impact on payroll and when does it need to be decided upon? The Red Sox hold a $6.25 million option on lefty Martín Pérez and a decision is due shortly after the conclusion of the World Series. The expectation is that they will exercise the option, as Pérez is someone who can take the ball every fifth day, and there’s something to be said for that at just $6.25 million.

Does anyone have an opt-out clause? For the second consecutive year, slugger J.D. Martinez has an opt-out clause. He didn’t exercise it last year after an All-Star season and is even less likely to opt out this season -- which was one of the worst of his career. Look for Martinez to stay in Boston and restore his value. And if he has a big year, he could potentially opt out again after the 2021 season.

Who might be a non-tender candidate and when does the club have to make that decision? Second baseman José Peraza -- who was non-tendered by the Reds last winter and then signed a one-year, $3 million contact to come to Boston -- is almost sure to be non-tendered again. He was given every opportunity to stand out in his one season with the Red Sox and he simply didn’t pan out. The non-tender deadline is Dec. 2.

Who needs to be added to the 40-man roster this offseason to avoid the Rule 5 Draft, and do they have a crunch for roster spots? The Red Sox have several of their Top 30 Prospects, as ranked by MLB Pipeline, who need to be moved to the 40-man roster this offseason. The list is led by righty Bryan Mata (No. 4), lefty Jay Groome (No. 7), outfielder Jeisson Rosario (No. 16), catcher Connor Wong (No. 19), infielder Hudson Potts (No. 20) and righty Connor Seabold (No. 23). The last four players were all acquired in trades by Bloom within the last year.

Given the subpar performances in 2020 by many of the pitchers on the 40-man roster, it shouldn’t be too tough for Bloom to carve out space. One interesting thing to watch is if Dustin Pedroia again takes up a 40- man roster spot for the entire offseason, even though it seems highly unlikely he will play again. Pedroia has one year left on his contract. Teams must reset their 40-man roster by Nov. 20.

What kind of help do they need? Will they be active in free agency? Who might they target? In case you hadn’t heard, the Red Sox need pitching of all kinds. The entire feel of the team would change if it had more stability with the starting rotation. The outspoken Trevor Bauer, who also happens to be an excellent pitcher, is an enticing free-agent candidate if Boston is willing to spend. How about a reunion with ? The Cubs and Lester hold a mutual option of $25 million for 2021 that includes a $10 million buyout. Charlie Morton, the righty Bloom is plenty familiar with from the one season they overlapped with the Rays, could also help.

* WEEI.com

18 years later, Billy Beane might have another Red Sox decision to make

Rob Bradford

The sheer thought of the decision Billy Beane made in the winter of 2002 brings up a wave of what-might- have-beens.

If Beane did take that offer from John Henry to become the general manager of the Red Sox it would have undoubtedly changed the course of baseball history. , for one, doesn't get his chance to do his thing (which is trending toward landing the executive in the Baseball Hall of Fame). Would Boston have won more or less than two world championships over the next five seasons? And what about Beane's A's, who are still looking for their first World Series appearance with the start of "Moneyball" at the helm.

Now it appears as though there might be a Beane-to-the-Red Sox connection, after all.

The company Beane is a co-chair for, RedBall, is reportedly close to merging with Henry and his Fenway Sports Group. According to reports, the deal would land the special purpose acquisition company with less than 25 percent of FSG, which is being valued at about $8 billion.

For Beane, who owns equity in the A's, it might be decision time once again.

"It seems like a clear conflict," Jason Dana, an associate professor of management and marketing at the Yale School of Management told Bloomberg in an email. "A person couldn't, for example, own two different MLB teams. For the same reasons, this seems to be open for the possibility of coordination between two teams, which is bad for the game."

It should be noted that such an acquisition, which would include both the Red Sox and the Liverpool football club, would allow FSG to be a publicly traded company on the stock market.

RedBall is reportedly in the process of raising $1 billion to help complete the deal, which could be done by the end of the month.

* NBC Sports Boston

Six pitching options for Bloom, Red Sox to consider

John Tomase

Back when the Hot Stove season didn't drag until February in a perfect metaphor for baseball's glacial pace of play, the Red Sox routinely shopped in the high rent district.

Name a monster free agent, and the Red Sox wanted him, from Manny Ramirez to Mark Teixeira to David Price. Somewhere around the time between Nathan Eovaldi earning $68 million based on two good weeks and Chris Sale shutting down before his $145 million extension even started, however, owner John Henry decided to stop throwing reckless money after his problems.

The result last year was one of the saddest free agency periods in modern Red Sox history. They traded away Mookie Betts and replaced him with ... Martin Perez and Jose Peraza?

The good news is the Red Sox have more money to spend this year after resetting their luxury tax penalties -- around $25 million, give or take -- and could exploit some market inefficiencies if everyone else approaches free agency tentatively. The bad news is they're not close enough to contention to justify swimming in the deep end of free agency for the likes of George Springer and Trevor Bauer.

Where they'll likely end up instead is smack dab in the middle -- and that's OK.

Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom routinely bargain-shopped during his days with the Rays and often landed absolute steals. The two-year, $30 million contract Tampa gave veteran right-hander Charlie Morton, for instance, delivered a 16-game winner to their rotation last year, when Morton finished third in the AL Cy Young voting.

With the Red Sox needing to shore up a rotation featuring exactly zero sure things -- thanks to Sale's Tommy John surgery, Eduardo Rodriguez's COVID-related heart issues and Eovaldi's inconsistency -- Bloom would love to find another Morton in a veteran who won't break the bank but could delivery serious bang for the buck.

Is that pitcher out there? Let's run through some candidates.

One guy who won't cost $30 million is old friend Jon Lester. The Cubs probably won't pick up the left- hander's $25 million option, meaning the Red Sox could right the wrong of 2014, when they traded Lester away and then watched him sign with the Cubs, where he made two All-Star teams, won at least 18 games twice, and helped lead Chicago to its first World Series title in over 100 years.

Lester isn't the pitcher he used to be. His 4.64 ERA over the last two years is below average, his strikeout rate has dropped from 25 percent in 2015 to 15.9 percent this year and he just averaged below 90 mph on his fastball for the first time in his career.

But he won't cost much, and he knows the market. Might sentimentality be clouding this hypothetical? Maybe. But Lester deserves a better sendoff from Boston than the one he got.

If Bloom wants to follow a closer model to Morton, he could do worse than left-hander Mike Minor. The former Braves farmhand remade himself after missing the entire 2015-16 seasons due to arm surgery, coming back as a reliever in 2017 with the Royals before making an All-Star team with the Rangers in 2019.

He was woeful in 2020 (1-6, 5.56), but he still struck out over a batter an inning between Texas and Oakland. He's a candidate for some tinkering, because roughly 20 percent of his pitches over the last two seasons were sliders, which opponents hammered for a .300 average and .500-plus slugging percentage. His fastball, changeup, and curve fared much better, and perhaps there's something to work with as he approaches his 33rd birthday.

If we want to consider a riskier candidate, there's Corey Kluber. The two-time Cy Young award winner threw just one inning in 2020 after being limited to seven starts a year earlier by a broken arm. This time around he tore a muscle in his shoulder, though the injury didn't require surgery. The Rangers hold an $18 million option on Kluber, but they'd like to cut payroll and Kluber is a logical place to start.

Kluber could be worth a short-term gamble, especially considering he's only two years removed from winning 20 games and finishing third in the Cy Young voting. He might've been the best pitcher in baseball from 2014-18, going 83-45 with a 2.85 ERA. If that pitcher is still in there, it's worth exploring whether he can restored.

On the other end of the spectrum is Giants right-hander Kevin Gausman. A former No. 4 overall pick of the Orioles, Gausman muddied along in Baltimore for five-plus seasons before being traded to the Braves in 2018. There's no questioning his stuff, which includes a 95 mph fastball and devastating splitter. Still only 29 years old, he just went 3-3 with a 3.62 ERA while striking out a career-high 11.9 per nine innings.

His relative youth compared to others on this list may price him out of Boston's range, but it's the promise of untapped potential that makes him so intriguing.

Finally, we'll mention a couple of veterans. Former Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta has basically been a .500 pitcher the last three years and he turns 35 in March, but the track record speaks for itself. He last made an All-Star team in 2016, finished above .500 in 2017, and won double-digit games in 2018.

At his best, he was a horse. The Phillies are expected to decline his $22.5 million option after he went 4-4 with a 5.08 ERA this season.

Then there's another former Phillies starter in left-hander Cole Hamels. Next year will be the 37-year-old's 16th season, and he's coming off the first lost campaign of his career. He made just one start for the Braves after signing an $18 million contract, limited first by a shoulder injury he suffered during offseason workouts, and then a triceps strain during this truncated season.

From 2008-19, however, the four-time All-Star made at least 30 starts in 10 of 12 seasons. He has relied on command more than power throughout his career, winning at 91-92 mph even in his heyday. He's a bounce- back candidate.

* BostonSportsJournal.com

MLB Notebook: Early postseason exit for Yankees means Sox’ rivals have work to do, too

Sean McAdam

For many Red Sox fans, the only thing nearly as intoxicating as Red Sox success is Yankee failure. And in years where the former was non-existent — the last meaningful Red Sox game was probably played in the first week or so of August — those fans will seek sustenance wherever they can find it.

It’s a bit of schadenfreude, for sure — if Red Sox fans are going to be miserable, the only consolation is that Yankee fans join them in their despair.

Of course, even as it ended prematurely Friday night, the 2020 Yankee season was far, far better than that of the Red Sox. The Yankees didn’t win the American League East and they didn’t reach the ALCS, but they did finish second and qualified for the expanded playoff format.

Still, the Yankees haven’t won a pennant — much less a World Series title — since 2009, when they won both. And that 2009 championship stands as the franchise’s lone ring in the 21st century despite payroll investments totaling billions.

The Yankees though they had added the missing link last winter when they signed Gerrit Cole to the biggest free agent deal ever given to a pitcher. And Cole pitched splendidly for the Yankees in October, with a 2.95 ERA over three starts, including 5.1 innings of one-run ball — on three days’ rest — in the season-ending loss to the Tampa Bay Rays Friday.

But Cole wasn’t nearly enough for the Yankees, who revealed themselves to be a slightly better version of the 2019 Red Sox: overpaid and underperforming. (The Yanks’ 33 wins in the pandemic-shortened season would have translated to 89 wins in a full 162-game year, a small upgrade over the 2019′ Red Sox total of 84).

Free agency will hit the Yankees hard this winter. They stand to lose second baseman D.J. LeMahieu, who’s been their best everyday player the last two seasons; veteran outfielder Brett Gardner and three starting pitchers — J.A. Happ, Masahiro Tanaka and James Paxton.

Only Cole, rookie Deivi Garcia and Jordan Montgomery are in place to begin next season in the rotation. Like the Red Sox with Chris Sale, the Yankees will eagerly await the return of a front-line starter. Luis Severino underwent Tommy John surgery almost exactly a month before Sale did.

The 2020 season revealed the Yankees to have significant holes in their lineup. Shortstop Gleyber Torres was a big disappointment — in the field and at the plate — and Gary Sanchez, who twice has hit 30-plus homers in a season, could actually be non-tendered.

Then there’s the matter of Aroldis Chapman, whose established himself as both one of the more dominant closers in the game and a postseason liability, having given up season-ending homers in each of the last two trips to the playoffs.

Then there’s the issue of existing long-term contracts which could restrict even the Yankees going forward. Giancarlo Stanton still has a staggering $208 million remaining over the next seven seasons even though he’s played in slightly more than half (199 of 384) of the team’s games in his first three seasons. Center fielder Aaron Hicks has five more years and more than $50 million remaining on what is already a bad contract. And despite his October struggles, Chapman has another $32 million coming to him over the next two seasons, which is no one’s idea of an efficient use of resources.

Even Aaron Judge, the club’s most gifted player, can’t stay on the field. He’s been less durable than even Stanton and his chronic injury history surely has the Yankees questioning the wisdom of getting a long- term extension done as he nears his second salary arbitration winter and inches ever closer to free agency.

As their season heads into the winter, then, the Yankees are uncertain about three key positions — catcher, shortstop and second base — and in need of reinforcements.

Resources are never an issue with the Yankees, but even they may be somewhat constrained by the massive revenue losses that have shaken the industry in the last seven months. The consensus is that the Yankees won’t spend nearly as freely as they did in 2020 when they amassed (for CBT purposes) a $265 million.

That means there will be no quick fixes in free agency, so the idea of writing massive checks to re-sign LeMahieu and add, say, Trevor Bauer and J.T. Realmuto to fill holes would seem out of the question.

Surely, the Yankees aren’t in free fall. They’ve qualified for the postseason in each of the last four seasons and have been in the mix for the pennant each time. They’ve continually uncovered hidden gems in other organizations (Luke Voit, Gio Urshela) and both Garcia and Clark Schmidt represent potential rotation pieces, both homegrown.

But like the Red Sox, the Yankees’ annual aspirations are set plenty high. And going more than a decade without adding to their number of championships is bound to create lots of intrigue this winter.

Could three consecutive playoff flameouts possibly cost manager Aaron Boone his job? Boone’s contract is up, but his firing is doubtful, especially since GM Brian Cashman recently mentioned on a podcast co- hosted by Jon Heyman that the Yankees “certainly hope that we can have him around for a long time.”

Even if Boone returns — the Yankees hold a club option, so they could technically bring him back for 2021 without committing to him further if they so chose — he’ll do so with some of his authority somewhat compromised. Around baseball, there’s a consensus that the disastrous decision to use Garcia as an opener, followed by Happ as a bulk guy in Game 2 0f the ALDS, was the idea of Cashman and others in New York’s analytics department, and not that of the manager himself.

All things considered, the Yankees find themselves in a better position than the Red Sox. If nothing else, the presence of a true, certified No. 1 like Cole, along with the bullpen depth represented by Zack Britton and Chad Green, assures that.

But there is no small amount of work ahead for the Yankees, too, especially since their recent remake/remodels keep falling short in the only month that matters.

And if the Red Sox to-list is longer and more complicated, for Red Sox fans, the idea that the Yankees, too, are unhappy, provides at least a dollop of satisfaction. ______

There are just four teams remaining in the postseason as the two League Championship Series get underway, which means, other than the Red Sox, 25 other teams are through. That could mean a ramping up soon of the Red Sox’ managerial search.

Currently, only the Detroit Tigers are also without a manager, though consensus seems to have them focused on A.J. Hinch. Like his one-time bench coach, , Hinch is nearing the homestretch of his MLB-imposed suspension for the 2018 Houston Astros’ sign-stealing malfeasance. Both will be eligible to return once the World Series is complete, and that could happen in as little as two weeks.

Of the four remaining teams in the playoffs, only two candidates have been remotely linked to the Sox’ job opening: current Dodgers first base coach George Lombard and current Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro. It would be difficult to envision the Red Sox have any interest on the staff of either the Atlanta Braves or the Astros.

That leaves plenty of other potential candidates free to interview with the Sox — assuming that permission is granted.

Don’t expect that previous managerial experience will be a pre-requisite for Bloom. Certainly, Cora himself wasn’t limited by his lack of dugout experience when he directed the Red Sox to a franchise-record 108 wins and a title in his first season with the team.

Similarly, two of the four remaining teams (Los Angeles and Tampa Bay) are led by managers who are in their first managerial jobs at any level while Atlanta’s Brian Snitker, though the beneficiary of 20 years of managing in the minors, had never before done so in the big leagues when he was tabbed to take over the Braves in 2016.

Only Dusty Baker (with almost 3,600 games as a big league manager) profiles as an experienced major league manager and his hiring was an anomaly — brought in to restore credibility and calm to a franchise drowning in scandal, and in desperate need of an image overhaul.

Moreover, Bloom was part of a Tampa Bay franchise that had no hesitation in turning from the seasoned Joe Maddon to the untested Kevin Cash — and that decision has already been more than validated.

In short, Bloom is unafraid to take a chance on someone who hasn’t managed at the big league level – even as the suspicion continues to grow that, ultimately, he may end up filling the vacancy with the same man who created in last January.

Either way, with more teams retreating into offseason mode and the field of available candidates growing, expect to hear more about the Sox’ job search in the coming days and weeks. ______

Bloom hasn’t had a Red Sox game of his own to watch for two weeks now, but that doesn’t mean that he’s not keeping tabs on his ongoing playoffs in both leagues.

I wondered what was going through his mind while he watched the Rays, his former employers, get through their series with the and then their epic ALDS battle with the Yankees.

Was he wistful? Nostalgic? Proud? After all, Bloom had a big hand in constructing the current Rays roster — only a handful of players (Hunter Renfroe, Randy Arozorena, Yoshi Tsutsugo) joined the Tampa roster after Bloom signed with the Red Sox last October and he was also very involved in the team’s minor league operations and draft.

Bloom didn’t want to insert himself too much into the Rays’ postseason run this year, which is understandable. There would be the appearance of taking credit for something with which he’s no longer associated, and also, might suggest that he hadn’t yet completely cut himself off emotionally from his former team.

But yes, Bloom is watching. And yes, he can’t help but feel good for the people with whom he once worked in his former organization.

“I’m proud of what we built together,” said Bloom, “and I’m happy for the folks there who get to see their hard work pay off. People drive success in this game — and the Rays have great people who deserve to enjoy this ride as far as it takes them.”

* The Athletic

Rafael Devers, Cody Bellinger, Zach Plesac? A letter from Red Sox future in 2023

Chad Jennings

Letters from the future are tricky because there are so many to choose from. There are angry missives from bad-luck outcomes, gloating manifestos after happy endings, and confusing dispatches from timelines in which nothing has gone as expected. The best-laid plans often go awry. How else to explain an Astros team with a losing record appearing in this week’s American League Championship Series, while the Red Sox are still nursing the wounds of their worst season in more than a half century?

Predicting the future is a fool’s game, but it is possible to look ahead. Not with certainty, but with possibility. Letters from the future arrive every day. The trick is deciding which ones to believe, which to dismiss, and which to keep in a desk drawer just in case.

Somewhere around here we have a letter from a wildly optimistic Red Sox future in which Alex Verdugo is an MVP, Rafael Devers is a Hall of Famer, and Bryan Mata is a two-time Cy Young Award winner. There’s another from a much darker future in which Chris Sale needs a second Tommy John surgery, Triston Casas never reaches the majors, and Xander Bogaerts ages so rapidly that he’s barely playable in his early 30s.

The letter we’re publishing today comes from three years in the future, just before Game 1 the 2023 ALCS, with the Red Sox four wins away from a return to the World Series. This is from one of the timelines in which the organizational rebuild has worked, and gone more or less as planned, making the Red Sox competitive again while maintaining enough resources for longevity. This is not necessarily the Red Sox future, but it’s vaguely a version of what it could look like. And it starts with the manager filling out his lineup card.

To Red Sox fans of three years ago,

Honestly, we’ve all tried to forget what you’re going through. With the baseball season, the pandemic, and the election, it’s chaos and frustration on the best days, and the second season of “The Mandalorian” hasn’t started, so you don’t even have new Baby Yoda episodes to brighten your day. It’s rough. We know. We’ve been there, literally.

But let us tell you where the Red Sox stand today, in mid-October 2023, with manager Matt Quatraro sitting behind his desk at Fenway Park writing in his lineup for the ALCS opener.

Now that J.D. Martinez is gone, Rafael Devers is getting most of the at-bats at designated hitter. He signed an extension two years ago, and he’s been the lineup keystone in the No. 2 hole. He has one top-five MVP finish on his resume.

The Red Sox don’t need him at third base because they have some depth at third. When the Red Sox made no significant infield additions in 2021, they gave some in-house options plenty of opportunities to prove themselves. Bobby Dalbec was inconsistent, Christian Arroyo was more utility man than everyday solution, and Jeter Downs was good, not great. But together, they’ve been productive enough to surround 30-year- old Xander Bogaerts, who’s still at shortstop and still has three years left on his contract. Dalbec is the regular at third, Downs is at second, and Arroyo plays all over.

*That supposed-to-be-insane free agent class of 2021-22 never really materialized, by the way. Francisco Lindor and Kris Bryant hit the market – they signed with the Brewers and Yankees – but Corey Seager (Dodgers), Javier Baez (Cubs), Carlos Correa (Astros) and Trevor Story (Marlins after a trade) wound up signing extensions.

So, the Red Sox have been able to build their own infield without need for free agent spending (though the Devers extension did cost a pretty penny). The key to keeping the infield productive has been the arrival of Triston Casas, who showed up in the summer of 2022 and has been the team’s cleanup hitter almost from Day 1. He really emerged as an elite prospect during the 2020 season in Double-A, and the Phillies reportedly offered the last two years of Aaron Nola’s contact for him, but Chaim Bloom turned it down. The kid rakes.

Bloom did trade for pitching, though. One of his early moves was Jim Bowden’s suggestion of Andrew Benintendi to the Indians for Zach Plesac. Bloom might have been robbing Peter to pay Paul, but pitching was the priority, and he kept searching for it with big moves and small, some that worked and some that didn’t. He traded for young Cardinals starter Austin Gomber, he got a couple of good years out of free agent Jake Odorizzi, and he kept giving opportunities to his in-house pitchers, sometimes breaking them in as middle relievers or bulk relievers, but always keeping the pipeline open.

This season, the Red Sox had Plesac, Gomber, Chris Sale (now 34 years old), Eduardo Rodriguez (signed to an extension as soon as he proved he was back from his heart condition), Tanner Houck (a No. 3-4 starter), Thad Ward (a solid No. 4-5), Nick Pivetta (mostly a reliever, but with some starts as needed), Bryan Mata (occasionally dominant, but inconsistent and dealing with injuries) and Connor Seabold (spot starter who’s been up and down) helping them in the rotation. Noah Song, back from his military obligation, was working his way into the fold by pitching well in the minors.

The Red Sox would have had even more rotation depth, but after making the playoffs as a wild-card team in 2022, Bloom finally made his big splash just before spring training, and it was essentially the Mookie Betts trade in reverse. With Los Angeles’ Cody Bellinger making nearly $40 million in his final year of arbitration – and with the Dodgers having already committed long-term to Betts and Seager — the Red Sox stepped in with a trade offer.

Much-hyped prospect Blaze Jordan was blocked by Casas at first base, so the Red Sox included him without much hesitation, but it hurt to give up Jay Groome, who’d pitched well as a September call-up in 2022. The Dodgers, though, insisted Groome be a part of the deal, and so the Red Sox did it.

With Bellinger in left field, the Red Sox outfield was complete. Verdugo was still the leadoff hitter playing right field, and Jackie Bradley Jr. was playing out the final season of a three-year deal signed in late 2020. But at 33, Bradley was mostly a backup to Jarren Duran this season. Duran broke into the big leagues in 2022 but didn’t produce consistently enough to take over center field until the second half of this season. Even now, there’s some debate about whether he or Bradley should be out there during this series.

That’s not the only decision Quatraro has to make. He has to decide daily whether to go with offensive- minded catcher Connor Wong or glove-first catcher Jake Rogers (acquired from the Tigers for Michael Chavis), but it’s become commonplace for teams to play without a true everyday catcher.

Closers, however, are back in style.

Last offseason, the Red Sox signed free agent Michael Lorenzen for that ninth-inning job, but bullpens always seem to include a surprise or two, and for the Red Sox, the bullpen surprise is Chih-Jung Liu. He didn’t exactly come out of nowhere, but the Red Sox weren’t sure they could count on the hard-throwing kid out of Taiwan. He pitched his way onto the roster, though, and just kept moving up the ranks. At various points this season, Liu, Lorenzen, Darwinzon Hernandez, Durbin Feltman — his 2021 season put him back on the map — Colten Brewer and Brayan Bello have been the go-to relievers, with some of the starters moving in and out of relief roles as needed. It’s a pitching staff with versatility, flexibility and depth. It’s given Bloom and Quatraro a lot of options, which was the goal.

This Red Sox team is not exactly a powerhouse — this isn’t 2018, and this roster doesn’t have a ton of star power — but it’s made the playoffs two years in a row, and it’s been a steady rise since the low point you’re experiencing today.

And this time, it just might be sustainable. We’re still sorting through the letters from 2027 to know for sure.

* The Wall Street Journal

Red Sox Owner in Talks to Take Sports Holdings Public

Cara Lombardo and Miriam Gottried

Boston Red Sox owner John Henry is in talks to join with an investment vehicle for an $8 billion deal that would take his famed sports holdings public, according to people familiar with the matter.

The deal being discussed would merge Fenway Sports Group LLC, which also owns English soccer team Liverpool Football Club, with RedBall Acquisition Corp. RBAC +7.65% , the people said. RedBall is a so- called special purpose acquisition company launched by private-equity firm RedBird Capital Partners and Oakland Athletics executive Billy Beane.

RedBall, which raised $575 million in August to buy businesses in sports and sports-related media and data analytics, plans to raise an additional $1 billion to purchase a stake that will total less than 25% in Fenway Sports Group and value it at $8 billion including debt, some of the people said.

The talks are in the early innings and could still fall apart. Fenway’s investors had a meeting recently to discuss the potential transaction, one of the people said.

Also known as blank-check companies, SPACs effectively turn the traditional model for initial public offerings on its head by raising money before they develop a business. They use the proceeds to make an acquisition—usually within a couple of years—that converts the target into a public company.

There has been an unexpected boom this year in blank-check deal making, which has gone in and out of favor over the years, as an increasingly large stable of startups and other private companies seek a more expeditious route to the public markets and sponsors hunt for opportunities in the economic dislocation caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr. Henry, who founded investment firm Henry & Co., bought the Red Sox in 2002 and also owns the Boston Globe newspaper. Fenway Sports owns two of the most iconic teams in their respective leagues. The Red Sox, which have won the World Series four times since 2004 after going without a championship for 86 years, regularly pack the stands at Fenway Park with their devoted fan base. Liverpool sealed its first English league title in 30 years over the summer and in 2019 won the prestigious UEFA Champions League to become champions of Europe. The group also has a controlling stake of the New England Sports Network, the regional sports network that airs Red Sox games, and owns Fenway Park, the team’s stadium since 1912.

As a public company, Fenway could look to buy up more clubs in Europe, where a number have been on the block, according to a person familiar with the matter.

A publicly traded sports organization would be a relatively untested concept in the U.S. Liberty Media Corp. owns the Atlanta Braves, but the baseball team is a subsidiary of a much larger company. The NFL’s Green Bay Packers is owned by shareholders who mostly consist of fans.

New York-based RedBird, run by former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker Gerry Cardinale, made its first foray into European soccer in July by acquiring a majority stake in Toulouse FC, a club in France’s second tier. Immediately after the takeover, it installed a team president, Damien Comolli, who had previously worked at Liverpool and is close to Mr. Beane, who is best known for his analytics-driven approach as depicted in the book and movie, “Moneyball.”

RedBall’s board includes former Premier League Executive Chairman Richard Scudamore, during whose 20 years in charge English soccer turned into a global export and a television-rights cash cow. Premier League matches air in more than 190 countries every weekend of its 10-month season.

Because of the league’s reach, it’s not uncommon for top clubs to be valued in the billions of dollars on the rare occasions they hit the market. Manchester City set a new bar in 2019 after private-equity firm Silver Lake purchased a $500 million stake that valued the club’s sprawling umbrella group at $4.8 billion.

A deal for Fenway would be a significant endorsement of baseball, which has been hit the hardest among major professional sports leagues by the coronavirus pandemic because of its greater reliance on ticket revenue. Last month, billionaire hedge-fund manager Steven A. Cohen reached an agreement to purchase the for just short of $2.5 billion, the most ever for an American professional sports franchise. That deal is pending the approval of the other baseball owners.