Lady, young boyd old long you've been waiting more and more.

Welcome to Masa Territory, Ladies and gentlemen.

Hope you're all having a good Friday evening.

If you are watching this Saturday, well, I hope you're having a good weekend so far.

We got some things to talk about here tonight, ladies and gentlemen.

We are now a couple of days removed from the winter meetings that is now officially in the rear view mirror.

But we're having a little bit of fallout since the dust has settled here in the last couple of days, and you know, mostly negative for the most part.

You know, not really a whole lot of positive to talk about.

But you know me, I'm always gonna be a glass half full kind of guy.

I'm always gonna keep the positive vibes as much as I can.

But you know, in the reports the last couple of days haven't been all that great.

I'm gonna give you my thoughts on those here tonight in this rather late edition of Master Territory.

Apologize for getting here so late, but I'll give you my thoughts and all that We're gonna go over.

The article from mass Live here today from Chris Catillo about what they're hearing here today, So we'll dive into that.

Listen, you know, it has been a bit more negative the last couple of days, but you got to remember here, there's still a lot of off season left.

Listen.

We got Christmas here in what under two weeks, so listen, we got a little ways to go here, and there's still a lot of options out there.

So yes, missing on Pete Alwanzo, Kyle Schwarber at the winter meetings, that was a little sad.

I was a little grumpy.

I was a little down in the dumps about that.

For the most part.

I mean, we saw Pete Alonzo getting introduced by the Orioles today.

That man should have been in a red sizeiform.

If you asked me, he would have looked so good with the red letters, the white jersey, the Boston hat.

I thought that would have looked amazing.

But hey, it is what it is, and we're gonna have to deal with Alonso for the next five years.

My goodness, that man, he is going to be a pest.

That lineup is going to be a pest in Baltimore there.

But again, I still think there is a path I still think there's multiple paths for the Red Sox to end up having a good offseason.

But there are a couple of frustrations here before I get it, everything including us Jared Durand's name coming up yet again in a Jeff Passing article here today.

Make ow Garcia signed an extincsion with the Royals today and Jared Duran was mentioned with the Royals in that article.

We'll go over some possible trade, some different scenarios along with katl Marte.

His name keeps popping up here again.

I had heard some positive news on that front a couple of days ago.

The person that I spoke to about it still feels pretty positive.

So I'll give you my thoughts on that in just a little as well.

Let's get to it here, everybody, we got a lot to talk about, so let's dive into We might as well.

Hold on a second.

We're not talking Rule five trade tonight.

We're talking Jared Duran a little bit later.

Hold on a second.

There we go.

That's updated now.

So let's get into the negative stuff, shall We always love talking about the negative stuff.

I know you like the negative stuff.

It always gets all the views, it always gets all the clicks.

It is what it is.

But it's like a look.

Prominent agent says, Red Sox don't believe in long term deals.

Well, you know, there's a couple of sides to this, in my opinion, a couple of sides.

Now, like I said, weren't able to land Alonso or Schwarber.

I thought both of them would have been fantastic in Boston.

Listen, going to the offseason, Greg Breslow stressed that you needed to add some pop, You needed some poppy pop in the middle of the lineup.

They were talking about the post season, talking about World Series champions, They're always gonna have some power there in the middle of the order, game changing kind of power.

And I agree.

And you know, we saw in Game seven of the World Series.

You know, Boba Schett, who's not even known to be really a power hitter, but one swing of the backing change the game and the Blue Jays were that close to winning a World Series because of that three rung jack.

So you need a little little bit of power there, right.

But Sean McCadam, he was told here by a prominent agent, they don't believe in long term deals.

And I'll be honest with you.

You know, I'm not gonna sit here and try to sound like I'm siding with the Red Sox here, but I can understand why they don't believe in long term deals.

However, that doesn't mean I don't think they should go after him.

But let's let's name off a few here, shall we.

Let's name off a few going back, you know, all the way to the to the early years of the John Henry ownership when he took over.

What was the two thousand and two deals over five years dice G.

Matsuzaka or five years or more?

Dice G.

Matsuzaka, JD.

Drew, John Lackey, Adrian Gonzalez, that was an extension.

Carl Crawford, Pablo Sandoval, David Price, Jade Martinez, Trevor Story.

I'm probably missing one or two in there.

I apologize if I'm missing.

I was just rattling his off off the top of my head.

But really the only ones that were successful out of that group, JD.

Drew, he had a couple of good years, right, came up big into the two thousand and seven postseason in the alcs uh Yes clutch Fire five pin out Devers, Yes, the extension right, more so not looking at extensions.

I'm more talking about guys coming from outside of the organization.

Right.

Raffie Devers's homegrown talent was extended, but yeah, you could throw him into the mix as well.

Why not.

So really the only ones that were successful out of those yet JD.

Drew, who was good for a couple of years, had the big Grand Slam in the ALCS.

Adrian Gonzalez, you know, he was very good that first year but ended up, you know, being shipped out to the Dodgers and that big old deal with Carl Crawford, Right, dyce K, you know, he was pretty solid the first couple of years, but then he ran into some issues later on.

He is a little different though.

I see why the Red Sox went after him because he was such a big name at the time and he was still twenty six years old at the time.

David Price, Yeah, he came up big in the World Series in twenty eighteen that you know that postseason he stepped up.

But I think we can all agree that was a pretty messy contract for the most part.

Right had his postseason struggles before helping out in twenty eighteen to help clinch that World Series, and he had the whole Dennis Eckersley thing.

You know, there was some messiness going on there, and then Ox Trevor story.

You know, that was a six year deal.

I mean really this year was you know, finally some good production from him, right, A lot of injuries, you know, so there have been a lot of misses or partial misses, right when with the Red Sox when it comes to the long term deals.

However, that does not mean that you should not be going after these guys, right, I'm not trying to give an excuse.

You have to get a little bit uncomfortable.

That's just how it is.

That's the name of the game.

You know, you're gonna have to pay the money and listen, you know, Jad Martinez I forgot to mention him.

I'd say JD Martinez out of all the free agents.

I know we had Manny, but that he was signed before the John Henry regime took over.

Right, Manny was an amazing free agent signing and JD.

Martinez was fantastic for the most part that year in twenty eighteen he had that was a great year and then he was pretty solid after that.

Right, But when you're going into a competitive window.

That is a time where you know, if you're looking at the first year, two years, three years, you're banking on those first couple of years there, which are going to help you get to the postseason and beyond.

Right, So that's why I thought Pete Alonzo or Kyle Schwarber made a lot of sense.

And I look at both those guys.

Those are just power kind of guys.

And you know, with Alonzo probably more so, gonna be a DH at some point.

Kyle Schwarber d H already.

But those are two bats that I feel like have a very good chance of aging well.

So I feel like that would have been a good investment for the Red Sox.

You're now in this competitive window, you get a you know, one of those guys bringing him in, a good, solid veteran guys that you could bring into the fold.

You know, Schwarber, you know, you could say what you will up there.

You know, he he he was going to be just very hard to pry away from the Phillies anyway, you know, great relationship with the organization, the city.

I believe he even donated a portion of his salary, uh to some kind of a charity.

I'm going blank on which one.

So Schwarber that that just felt probably too good to be true from the beginning.

But I think Alonso would have made a lot of sense.

Right, it is what it is.

But again, you know, they have had their issues with the long term deals over the last fifteen twenty years, But that doesn't excuse the fact that you shouldn't get uncomfortable to bring in a guy long term to help you try and win a championship.

Right now, you know, I'll say this about Alonzo, right, he did get a big contract.

I mean, listen, we can all agree.

You know that was pretty big.

Right.

He's making what thirty one per year?

I don't think any of that money was deferred.

So you're basically banking on that guy.

That kind of money you're banking.

You're paying him for like a three and a half fangraft war per year on average.

You know that those are pretty lofty expectations, right, and Alonso he's averaged right around like a three war over the last few seasons.

So you know, when you're looking at the Orioles again, I'm not trying to provide excuses here, I'm just kind of I'm giving you my honest opinion.

The Orioles they overpaid there and they needed to, right.

They had a very disappointing season this past year.

You got all that young talent there, they needed a bit more pop in the middle of the order to give a bit more protection to some of these guys, to help take off pressure.

Alonso was a guy they overpaid for, right, But the successful teams, Hey, in the end, they got the job done.

You know, it is what it is.

So I give the Oriols a lot of credit for stepping up and opening the wallet.

Right in the end of the Red Sox they just didn't want to go that far.

So we'll see now there are other avenues to go here and also through I want to bring this up as well.

I didn't talk about this the other day at the winter meetings, but there was something here.

The Red Sox were weary of Pete Alonso because of his age.

So you know, Alonso's a bigger guy, right, you do want first couple of years, first few years, I think he's gonna end up being fine.

But you never know, you know, as these bigger guys start to get into their thirties, you never know what's gonna happen, Right, so the Oriols, they're definitely overpaying and there is a bit of risk there.

Still, if it were me, you know, you're the Red Sox, that's probably a moment where you should put some money down.

So this is kind of where you got to start looking at some alternatives, right, And this kind of makes me think of kind of what the Red Sox were thinking in the situation.

Right.

Reportedly they had made an offer for Alonso.

I believe I saw somewhere like three years with an option for less money per year.

So that makes me think the Red Sox feel like and again not trying to defend them, this is I'm just thinking about what's going on in their brains.

Maybe they feel confident that there's other alternatives out there to where they feel like they can get just as good production without having to commit to a five year, big money kind of a deal.

Right, And this is where we get into the next article.

You know, I have the topic, the next topic, says Bregman.

Next, let's actually change that.

Hold on a second, Let's let's fix that up really quick.

Let's just name it alternatives.

That sounds good to me.

Alternatives.

Well, let's get to the next article here, and we had this today from mass Live.

What we're hearing on the Red Sox search for bats, including a new name after the winter meetings and the Pete Alonzo decision.

Also, wow, we got around two are people here in the chat.

I appreciate that for stopping on by here to add on a Friday evening.

If you count everybody, just hit the leg button for me.

That's all I ask, So here we go.

They named off here a lot of alternatives.

As of Thursday night, the Red Sox were mained in pursuit of many of the top position players still on the market, casting a wide net in terms of type of transaction, both free agents in trades and positional fit.

Boston remains engaged with free agent Alex Bregman, a source said, and is involved in trade talks with Arizona and Cantel Marte, as well as Houston on Esoch Paratus.

The Red Sox are one of the many teams interested in Cardinal second Basement Brendan Donovan, but Saint Louis still might hold on to him.

I think Saint Louis should trade him, to be honest, You're going into a new window.

Guy.

You can get a good package back.

I can understand though, that that's a guy.

He's cheap, good veteran guy.

You know, maybe they end up keeping him.

Who knows, he would be great for a lot of teams.

Though.

A new name has also surfaced for the Red Sox, who, according to a source, are pursuing Donovan's teammate Wilson Contreras in trade talks.

Wilson Contras, let's talk about him, because I feel like we've talked about all the usual suspects lately, even before Alonzo ended up signing.

I think Wilson Contrere's is interesting.

You know, that's a name that's been kind of floating around ever since the beginning of the off season.

Right, will he get traded?

Are they going to hang on to him?

I see the advantage of both sides, right the Cardinals, yes, they are going through a bit of a reset, but they did sign this guy to a five year deal back in twenty twenty three.

He's got three years left on that contra right, or is two years left on that contract?

So you know, is this the time for the Cardinals to move on or do they end up hanging on to them?

Because listen, the Cardinals are an organization.

You know, sure, heine Bloom's taking over a new front office regime.

But you do wonder too if they want you know, that's a classy organization there in Saint Louis, right, they have, even though they might not look great on the projections, you know, that's an organization that, you know, historic organization.

They want to, you know, at least put their best foot forward, right, So I wonder if they end up hanging on to Contreres right.

Is he is a good veteran guy.

You got some young guys coming up here.

Maybe they value keeping him around.

It's not like he's breaking the bank by any means.

He's making you know, seventeen and a half million per year on the AAV So I don't know.

It depends on what they value.

Do they value bringing in, you know, a return for him, which I'll be honest with you probably won't be all that much because when you look at the projections with him moving forward, he's making right around the same as what the positional value, or not the positional value, what the field value that he's projected to produce over the next couple of years.

It's kind of right around the same, right, So as you can see here Fangrass, just for example, they're projecting him for a two wins above replacement war on average across Major League Baseball is worth around nine million bucks.

That's gonna be different from organization to organization.

So if he's projected here for a two, who knows, maybe the Cardinals have different projections there.

Every team's gonna do it differently.

Let's just say two, just for a nice even number, that's gonna be worth right around eighteen million bucks.

So if he's making seventeen and a half million bucks, I mean, there's not really a whole lot of surplus there, right, unless they paid down some of the contract then to try and get more back.

Right, it's kind of the economics that come into play.

So you wouldn't have to give up a whole lot for him, unless the Cardinals were like, okay, yeah, we'll eat some of the money.

That way.

They did the same thing with Sonny Gray, so they can get back you know, Brandon Clark.

That's a perfect example right there, justin it's I'd say, if it is, it's like slightly, but it's probably right around even.

I would say it's probably just breaking even.

I would i think that's right around there.

So so yeah, if they ate some of the money, then yeah, they could probably get a decent return.

You know, could the Red Sox and the Cardinals come back together for a trade.

You know, hold on, let's pull up here.

I was gonna do something for Marte.

Let's actually put together a trade for Wilson Contreras.

I got the trade machine to work on the computer.

Ladies and gentlemen, let's actually see what this would look like, right, all right, so Cardinals, let's go to Wilson.

Hopefully this can start loading for me.

All right, it looks like it's smooth, all right.

Well, actually they BeTV is giving a very low per surplus value for him, So I don't know.

For me personally, I think it probably I guess at the pen let's see what is the projection for Contreras, because he is what, he's thirty three now, he's gonna be thirty four right around the beginning of the year, and then then he's gonna be turning thirty five in the next year.

So if we go to the three year projections, do they have that here?

I don't know if they're gonna have that, I say, I mean we're just going off of next year's projection.

So if they have him at a two for next year, I mean maybe twenty twenty seven, that ends up being a one point five.

So I can understand BTV going with a pretty negative value here at negative fourteen million, But that ends up helping out the Red Sox if they want to pull off a trade, and that means they wouldn't have to give up really all that much unless they eate a lot of it.

Same thing with Greg So I think Contreras is a possibility.

You know, I listen, I wouldn't mind Contreras, but we would also need to bring back another or not bring back, but bring in or bring back another valuable bat.

Right, it can't just be Contreras.

I mean, I think we all agree you need two bats.

There's no way around it, because you can't just bring back Bregman because you're basically the same team, right.

I mean sure, after Roman Anthony was called up, you were a lot better with him at the top of the lineup, and you know, with Sonny Gray in the rotation, I think that helps a little bit more.

I think it's a bit more upside there.

But you're pretty much I would say, you're looking at the same all right, So if you bring Bregman back, you need to add something if you want to take a step forward.

So Bregman Wilson Contreras, does that move the needle?

I don't know, Yeah, maybe a little bit.

And one thing about Contreras that I do like is is defensive first base.

After moving there this year was good.

So that is an area for the Red Sox.

You know, they're trying to improve that infield defense, so I see the advantage there.

So and put his bat at Fenway Park right handed back.

He does pull a bit more often, you know, I'd say he's more left center for the most part.

He can go apo too, but I think Wilson can be a pretty solid player for the Red Sox.

But again, if I'm looking for a big bopper, you know, I kind of I want a little bit more upside there.

You know.

I like Contreras, but he's not exactly the needle mover for me.

I think he's very good, But if it ends up being him and Bregman, I don't know.

I think there's like a little bit more to desire there.

Maybe that's just me.

Again, nothing against Contreras, I like him, But this is where I turn my attention to Marte.

And before I do, though, let's actually talk about Bregman here before I go forward at all.

You know, back through the article, Boston remains engaged with Alex Bregman.

This is interesting because his market, it is so I don't know, man, let me let me pull up Bregman here.

You know, obviously the injury this past year that didn't help.

You know, he had a pretty solid year for the most part, even with the injury, had a three and a half war.

You just kind of wonder, what is this market looking like?

And the way I'm seeing it.

The fact that we saw a report the other day that Scott Boris is calling the Seattle Mariners saying, hey, do you do you do you like Bregman?

You know, what do you got there?

You think you might have something there you're thinking about mister Alex Bregman.

So the fact that you know he's calling trying to establish some kind of a connection there, that kind of tells me what's this market really looking like?

The Cubs, I'll be honest with you, I think the Cubs are there's this weird feeling about the Cubs with me.

I don't know what the plan in Chicago is.

But now that Tucker is off the board, well, who knows.

I mean, I don't know who knows what's going on with his market.

But the fact that Tucker is now coming off, could they use that money towards Bregman?

You know, I think most likely gonna get a shorter deal, right, I mean, Tucker he's looking for, you know, a nice, juicy, long term deal.

Does he get that from the Blue Jays?

I don't know?

But with Bregman, you know, could the Cubs maybe call him?

They had a zoom meeting within the last month or so or whatever.

A couple of weeks we had a report on that.

You know, that was a team that was interested in him last year they made a late push.

Do they do it again?

I don't know that I get.

I got It's the same thing with Alonso.

I had this weird thing about the Orioles.

They just felt like just such a weird outside team to me.

But I thought, you know what, that's a team that's really trying to get themselves back.

Do they get a little crazy here?

You know, they're gonna have to figure out a way to move Mayo right, Mount Castle so But even still, even though the Red Sox looked like the perfect fit, I couldn't stop thinking about the Orioles for Alonzo.

And it's the same thing with Bregman.

Here.

The Red Sox feel like the perfect home they always have.

But there's something about the Cubs right there where you look at the lineup and they look like they're pretty much all set.

But you wonder if you know, they want to try and bring in a guy like this after losing Tucker.

So I don't know, I feel weird about the Cubs.

We'll see what happens the Red Sox still, I mean, you just had that year, you know.

And that's another thing too, you go back, you know, over the years, right, we've heard players say how many times at you know, the intro press conferences, I came here because they wanted me the Red Sox.

Right now, they don't seem like they are really pushing for Bregman.

Do the Cubs show that little execra motivation for Bregman?

And does do we end up seeing a press conference at some point where Bregman says, hey, you know, enjoyed my time in Boston.

It was a great year, learned a lot, met some great people.

Hey, but hey, the Cubs, they really wanted me here.

Does that end up happening?

Because right now it seems like the Red Sox they don't seem too interested in figuring out something long term?

Could that be a backburner kind of a thing for the Red Sox at this point?

But does Bregman want to wait around?

Pete Alonso didn't wait around?

He did not remember Pete Alonso.

He was in the same situation last offseason.

You know him and his wife.

You know, they got a family there.

They're trying to figure out their situation.

Did they want to do that two years in a row?

Absolutely not.

Do you think Bregman wants to do that.

I don't think he does.

I think Bregman wants to figure out his situation a lot sooner than he did last year.

I'm just thinking about the human being.

That's what I would want if I if that was me last year, I'd be like, I don't want to do that again.

I want to know where I'm going.

I want to figure out my living situation, right, you know, I want to know what grocery store I'm gonna go, you know, pick up my nice you know, fancy stakes from you know what I mean, Like, I just want to know where I'm going.

So, you know, Bregman is Uh, it's interesting, and I wonder if the Red Sox keep waiting around if he ends up going elsewhere.

And I keep thinking about the Cubs.

I think the Mets could be interesting, especially now that they've had a lot of money come off the books with obviously Alonso and Edwin Diaz.

I know they signed Devin Williams, but you know, they definitely have some room there.

Do they go after Bregman?

And uh, that's think about the Orioles, right, that's a team that they had some urgency there.

Well, the Mets after the year they just had, I mean, could that beat some urgency, you know, and maybe they're, uh, maybe they're looking at Bregman as a guy that can really help bring some leadership to that team.

You know, Soto Soto is a fantastic player, and I obviously I think he is that kind of a guy.

He's that kind of a player to me that he kind of leads by example, you know, and maybe they bring in Bregman to also kind of fit that mold, right, because that's what Bregman is too.

But then again, you got Baty, you know, he was pretty solid last year.

You know, you got vent toast.

You know, do you move Baity or I don't know.

I thought maybe you could move Baity to second base, but then they brought in Semion.

So I'm interested here in David Stearns.

He has said that they want to improve the defense.

Well, Bregman is going to be very good defensively for you.

So I'm looking at the Cubs, I'm looking at the Mets.

I'm just wondering if the Red Sox are going to go that extra mile.

Remember, in the end, they gave a three year deal for Bregman last year.

You know, are they going to go past that, especially after seeing this report that they don't believe in long term deals.

I don't know.

I felt very confident about Bregman coming back coming into the offseason because it just felt like a perfect fit.

But if the I didn't expect the Red Sox to be like this.

I figured there would be a bit more leeway now now that they have made the postseason.

I figured there would be a bit more flexibility.

But seems like they're holding a strong stance.

So we'll see Bregman is interesting, but catell Marte once again popping up in this article involved in trade talks.

You know, I told you all the other night.

I had a report that was very positive on Kutel Marte from someone that I trust.

And I've said this before, I will never put something out there unless I fully trust it.

I will never do that.

I'm never going to be the guy that tries to look for clicks.

If I hear something that means like genuinely trusted where it came from, and if it ends up being wrong, then you know that's wrong, you know.

But I will tell you right now, I will never look for clicks.

You know, I put out I had my first news break the other day, Mark Ler Junior going to the A's right.

My source on that is someone that I trust very much, and they have served me right over the last couple of years.

That's not the right way to say, now serve me right.

That sounds weird to say, but they've given me good information over the last couple of years.

You know, They've done well by me, right.

I was told something very positive on Marte, but then again, after that report, I looked for confirmation from other sources.

And I got pushback on all of it.

So I got one positive report and then three pushbacks on it.

So just telling you what I've heard.

Right, We'll see what happens with Marte.

But what that does tell me one positive report, a few pushbacks.

That tells me there is definitely a conversation going on.

And when you think about the Red Sox and Marte or the Red Sox and the Diamondbacks, I do think they're great trade partners.

And I've talked about this.

The Red Sox last year felt like the perfect trade partner for the White Sox because they weren't locked down to just one possible package.

They had multiple avenues.

They could have gone for Crochet ended up being Kyle Teal Brada Montgomery, But I do believe they could have figured it out in another way because they had multiple players.

They could have formed a package round they came to that package, and I think the Red Sox can do the same thing, even more so this time of the year.

You know, we've seen a report that the Rays have been involved.

I'm gonna be honest with you.

You know we saw this report here Shane Boz and Ryan Pepio.

Well, I'm gonna push back on that.

Why would the Rays give up two starting pictures out of their rotation?

I mean, you're giving up a massive chunk of your rotation right there.

And they don't really have a whole lot of reinforcements coming in.

You know, they got some guys.

You know, maybe they could bring in another guy, but that's two guys out of your rotation.

I don't know about that.

I don't know the Rays.

This is where I wonder, and I've talked about this many times before.

Teams in division they will do that kind of a thing if they hear something is happening.

Well, Tampa, a team that you know they've made trades with the d Backs in the past, they give him a call and say, hey, hey, we heard this.

What can we do to change your mind?

Right?

They try to drive up that price because well, I do believe the Rays would like to go for Marte, but they also don't want him to land to the Red Sox.

That's why the whole Alonzo thing was even worse because he landed with the Orioles right, so, well, the can the Rays make the Red Sox uncomfortable enough to get him to keep him from going to Boston.

In the end, Hey, credit to them for getting involved because the Red Sox that puts a little pressure on them.

So yeah, that could end up driving up the price.

You know, the Blue Jays, they've been connected.

But here's the thing.

This is where you kind of have to look at just right down the middle.

Here is where you just got to cut right to the meat potatoes.

The Blue Jays don't have the assets that the Red Sox do.

Maybe they could get something done.

You never say never.

I know that's a cop out answer.

It depends on what the organization prefers.

What are the Diamondbacks prefer Maybe they like something that the Blue Jays offer and then they get it done.

But if I'm looking at just prospects in general and the amount of variety that the Red Sox can offer, I think they beat the Blue Jays when it comes to a bidding and the Rays.

Sure, the Rays got some pretty, you know, solid guys they could send back, but the Red Sox have more.

They have more variety, and they also have young major league ready starting pictures like Peyton totally Connolly early, who I do think they would like to keep.

But you also got some cost controlled guys Brian Bao, Cutter Crawford.

You know you got guys like that too who have a lot of control.

But then you got some good valuable position player, some young position players that you could send back.

And that gets me back to the article.

Let's get to this.

Oh of course, my computer.

Okay, well now my computer, my keyboard died.

That's great, mid show.

My computer died.

Hold on a second, let me see if I can find it.

Well, I do know, Marcelo Meyer came up here.

Not sure if I can find it.

I like using the control I f but since my keyboard died, I can't find it in the article.

M yeah, no, not seeing Oh here we go.

I found it.

Let's go back to the beginning here.

The Red Sox don't feel like they need a resolution from Bregmant's camp before pouncing on another hitter, and to that end continue to try to move the ball down the field on other talks.

As of Friday, along with many other clubs, remained engaged with Arizona on Marte, but nothing was close.

One source described the talks to this point as exploratory.

Arizona is clearly targeting starting pitching and talks for Marte but also might be intrigued by young infielder Marcello Meyer.

Listen, if the Red Sox wanted to do a deal with Meyer involved, you know, here's the thing.

I would only give up Meyer if I know I'm getting Bregman back, right, Because I mean, you need someone for third base.

That's just the way it is.

Unless they wanted to, you know, bring in a Okamoto to play base.

I guess you could do that, you know, maybe Polanco or whatever.

I've seen people mention Aeronato.

I believed in Arnado last offseason, not this time around.

But to me, the only way I'm giving up myers if I know Bregmann's gonna come back.

That's it, right, Meyer, That's gonna That's a lot to give up.

But when you're looking at the caliber of a player that Marte is, I mean, listen, Marte is one of the better players in the game, and he's on a friendly contract.

And I've also had people say this, well, why would the Red Sox be interested in a trade for Kutel Marte who's on a contract five years but they wouldn't pay Alonzo.

Well, here's the big difference on that Marte's making around fifteen million bucks per year.

And you know, sure Marte, he's you know, just turned thirty two, so yeah, you know you are gonna have some regression there.

But he's making fifteen million per year.

That's way cheaper than Alonso, right, So that there's that.

So if you were to give up Marcelo Meyer, I mean you're making up I think a lot of the difference there, right, making up a lot of the difference.

You wouldn't have to give up much else with Meyer.

I do think you could probably, you know, honestly, I think if you gave up Meyer, and this is just my opinion, Listen, I love my Ginger brother and Hunter Dobbins, but I think maybe you could do like Hunter Dobbins and maybe throwing like one high upside prospect like Justin Gonzalez, you know, who's a guy who's very far away, but that maybe that's a guy that could stash in their system and that trade right there, value wise, you are looking pretty even.

So I think there could be maybe that could be an idea, right if you did Meyer, I mean I don't know, I mean, you have if it's just like one other guy, maybe like Luis Parrales, you know, Meyer and parals for Marte.

So you know, with Meyer, the point here is that he would make up a lot of the value.

You wouldn't have to send much else back with him.

Could you imagine Jordan Lawler Marcella Meyer in the same infield after they were drafted very close to each other back in that draft was that twenty twenty one?

I think that'd be pretty funny.

So that's kind of where I'm at.

You know, you could do Meyer.

There's but getting back to the point here, there's so many ways the Red Sox could do this, you know, get back to the outfield surplus.

Do you do Jaron Duran?

Will you or Bray you one of those guys?

You know?

Could you even do something where you include Franklin Arius?

You know a guy where right now you kind of wonder what the path is going to be with him.

But I mean, if you're getting Marte, I thinks that's a guy you could probably send back, you know, maybe send back.

I don't know.

Maybe this is where you do something for Arius.

And you know Connolly Early a young major league ready starter.

You can put in the rotation right now, Connolly Early, Franklin Arius, you know, maybe throw in a couple more guys here, I don't know, maybe Kays and Witherspoon, who you just drafted.

Maybe one more guy here, and you know you might be onto something.

Again.

The point that I'm making here is I think the Red Sox they have so much flexibility, so much variety to be able to get a Marte deal done.

They you can go so many ways and a package would look great.

And the more variety you have, the more flavors that you can put on the table, the more likely you're gonna be able to sell.

Right.

You go to an ice cream parlor, right, and there's so many different flavors where you're you're bound to pick one.

I mean, there's gotta be one that you like, right, But if you go another one and they only got like five flavors, you're like, eh, well I get I don't know, I guess I'll get that one.

You know, you don't, you know, there's not really one one that you like.

There's only they only got chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and cookies and cream.

And you're like, well, all right, here's here's a better analogy.

You go to McDonald's.

Then they have the soft serve, Right, You know, only like vanilla and whatever the mcflurry flavors are, like Oreo and eminem.

Oreo is so much better, by the way, just letting you know that the eminem candies they get too hard.

No, I can't.

I can't do that.

It no, it's yeah, don't like that.

But where would you rather go McDonald's or would you rather go to that nice ice cream shop right next door that's got like like all these different flavors, you know what I mean.

So that's kind of the point here.

The Red Sox, they I think, can get a deal done in many different ways.

I think Marte, he makes a lot of sense, makes a lot of sense here, and I think you could get a deal done for Marte.

And you know, honestly, I wonder if you're bringing Marte, Well, this could go the point that I'm about to make.

You can go a couple of different ways here, a couple of different ways.

Let's say you bring in Marte without having to give up Meyer.

Well, at that point, where do the Red Sox.

Where would the Red Sox want to go?

There?

Would they put Meyer at third and just say see you later to Bregman and then they go find another bat maybe they bring in, you know, like Jorge Polonko has been linked to them, or Okamoto.

Would you be satisfied?

I'm gonna ask you in the chat.

Let me know in the chat.

Would you be satisfied with an off season of Katl Marte and Kazuma Okamoto?

Would you be okay with that?

You're bringing Marte, who's a dynamic player, good offense, so give you some pretty solid defense to the part.

And then you get in a guy in Okamoto who is a question mark but has some upside with the power.

Would you be okay with that?

And then you get Meyer who is now your long term Well he'll be your third baseman for now, but eventually he'll take over at shortstop when the ex Trevor Story era is over right, So you kind of wonder is that the way maybe the Red Sox are looking to go here?

But then there's another angle to this.

Let's say they move Marte or move Meyer for Marte.

Let's say that's who the Diamondbacks want.

Does that maybe tempt Bregman a little bit?

Thinking, Hey, you know what, all right, they brought in Marte?

All right, now we're looking pretty good.

All right, Boris go to Boston and figure it out.

Let's get this done.

Come on, I want to stay in Boston, so I think you could go a couple of different ways there.

It's interesting.

It's interesting.

So and we also had this, uh, we had this report from Carlos by Erga tonight.

I think he was on his podcast.

It's Carlos Bierga.

Take with a grain of salt.

Take with a grain of salt.

But he was on his podcast saying that he spoke to Scott Boris saying, supposedly to Bierga that, uh oh, Bregman, he he opted out of his contract because he wanted to go to a more competitive team.

It's Carlos Vierga.

So again I'll say one more time, please take with a grain of salt.

However, that one's weird to me because it's not really like a signing or anything.

It's kind of like he's saying that someone said like an exact quote to him.

So I feel like that's just and you can say what you want to buy Bierga.

I'll say this about Beraga at the winter meetings, that man was shaking hands left him right, I'll tell you that right now.

So even though he has been wrong on a lot of things that uh, and yes, you know, former player, but he was shaking a lot of hands at the Winter meetings, so people love that guy.

I'll tell you that right now.

So would he lie about something that Boris said?

I don't know about that.

This one of the you know, if one of the strongest of not these strongest agents at all of sports, would he lie?

I don't.

I don't know.

Or was that maybe like a mischaracterization of what he said, or did he twist some words a little bit?

I don't know.

I thought that was a little weird.

I don't really buy that that clip.

I posted it on Twitter.

I think Jerry Krabas retweeted it.

Probably some people are getting grumpy at me.

I wasn't trying to stir the pot or anything, because I even said on that post I said, yeah, not really buying this one.

I don't remember what I said exactly, but that was one that was a little weird.

But it's also kind of weird, like why would you just lie like that, I don't know, especially with a guy that powerful in this game.

I don't know.

That sounds weird.

But then but then again, you know, maybe Boris, if he did actually say something like that.

Is that Boris trying to maybe stir things up?

I mean, Boris did call Seattle saying, hey, Seattle, you want Bregman a right?

So I don't know.

That whole thing just felt weird when I watched that clip, but I was curious to see what other people thought about it.

I don't buy it really too much.

Maybe that was even like a tongue in cheek kind of a thing.

Maybe Boris was like, ohh, I think yeah, maybe we also go to a more competitive team, you know what I mean, Like there's something I don't know.

Then Biergre's like, oh, I'm gonna say that on my podcast.

I don't know.

Could tell Marte.

I think he's great.

Sure there were some concerns with the clubhouse last year, but I don't know who knows what was going on with that.

I have no idea.

But the player, though, would be a very nice player to add to this team.

We'll see what happens.

So many different ways you could go.

We did get another report.

We did get another report here Jaron Duran popping up again in the trade rumors.

Mico Garcia signed an extinction with the Royals today, Jeff pass and put a breaking tweet.

It made my heart jump out of my chest because anytime I see breaking in capital letters, I gotta brace myself because it's like, okay, is that something I go I gotta go live for.

But then it was just the extincsion.

I'm like, oh, okay, okay, I can I can relax here for a bit.

But in that article on ESPN, he did say the Royals have been active on the trade market too, looking to acquire another outfielder.

They have discussed acquiring Jaron Duran from the Red Sox and inquired about Picture Mackenzie Gore and CJ.

Abrams from the Nationals.

So I'll talk about this again, listen.

I mean, unless you know, you can get creative.

Maybe I don't know, do some kind of like a like a three team trade.

I do think, right the only way the Royals can acquire Duran unless it's if it's like a straight up swap.

I think Cole Reagan's is like it would take more than Duran to get Cole Reagan's.

But when you look at the players that they have that I think they would be willing to move.

And however, Piccolo did say the other day that you know, he wasn't very keen about moving Cole Reagan's.

But if you want someone like Duran, I mean, who else are you gonna give up?

I mean, you got Chris Bubick, but he's only got one year left, so you'd have to give up a lot more than Bubick.

I don't know.

Noah Cameron doesn't really move the needle for me.

You got Carter Jensen, you got Blake Mitchell to catching prospects, But the Red Sox have been adding ketchers left and right.

I mean, goodness, gracious, I mean they're probably gonna go find a catcher like in Ireland somewhere to add him, you know, to the Red Sox organization.

My goodness, they're adding ketchers all over the place.

So I don't know do they want another catching prospect with Carlos Narvas coming off a rookie year?

So I don't know.

I'm just looking at different guys.

I mean, sure, you got guys like you know, David Shields.

I am a big fan of Josh Hammond and Sean Gamble.

You know, do the Red Sox maybe do some kind of a thing where if you brought in Bubick, you know, could you get back, you know, like a prospect like Gamble or Hammond.

I was big fans of them coming out of the draft.

I thought they were underrated in that draft, especially Hammond.

I think that's a guy to look out for, look at for Josh Hammond down the road.

So I don't know, I just I don't know, to be the lesser value pieces.

I wonder if that's what the Red Sox would want to do for Duran.

I think would best case scenario they would like to in their view, they would like to add an impact player to their team if they're giving up Duran, which they should sell high on.

I mean, this is a guy that's put up a combined ten wins above replacement over the last couple of years, so they should have a hold him at a high standard, you know whatever.

You can say what you want about the error and the postseason and you know everything else, inconsistencies, but still a dynamic player.

So that's where I look at Cole Reagan's and I think for the Royals, you know, what have you sent back Duran?

You know, a cost controlled starter.

Maybe you know, throw in a prospect in there and maybe that could get something done.

You know, That's kind of the way I see it.

Or could you really get creative and get a third team involved, you know, where maybe the Royals, you know, you can get some guys from some other teams as well.

You know, maybe you can get like Duran and maybe get like another solid player, you know, back from another team, and then the Red Sox they could send someone to that team, you know, kind of even out the values across the board.

So you know, maybe you can get creative in that way.

So I'm gonna you know, I'm not really thinking about Duran at this point, you know, unless maybe you could do something for Marte, you know, with the with the Dbacs want to go that route maybe, but you know, I don't know.

I feel like Duran is a guy that maybe comes up later on.

We'll see, maybe for Marte if they could figure out a way to get that done.

Getting back here to the article, you know, we've talked about the alternatives, We've talked about the Marte trade, We've talked about the Duran trade, kind of going over a couple of things here.

You know, they also mentioned Okamoto in this article.

The Red Sox also remain interested in oh.

They also talk about Boba Schet.

Sorry, the Red Sox also remain interested in high price free agent Boba Schett and versatile infielder Jorge Polonko, sources said late Thursday.

Japanese corner infielder Kazuma Okamoto is also a potential fit free agent.

Uhenio Suarez, who slugged forty nine homers in twenty twenty five, is one of the top power bats still available.

So Okamoto is really interesting.

Ah, I really, I do like the idea of him.

It's just a matter.

There's just so many roads the Red Sox can go down.

Here.

Does that road have Okamoto in it?

I think the it's hard to say.

I mean, I haven't heard anything.

Personally.

I feel like we haven't been hearing really anything about Munataka Murakami and also John Hayman.

I don't know where I put that.

I can't find it.

But John or not Jane, John Hayman, John Morosi, he went on MLB Network today he threw the Red Sox into the fold for Murakami.

You get back to this, you know, getting back to the don't believe in long term deals.

I would like to say on that there's probably more context to that because The Red Sox have clearly been open to long term deals as long as they're younger players Roman Anthony this past year, Christian Campbell, Garrett Crochet.

So they are open to long term deals, it's just as long as they're on the younger side.

Right when you're getting into the free agents, that's where it gets a little Harry and we already talked about that at the beginning of the show.

I wonder if Murakami ends up fitting that mold because he is young or I believe he's twenty six.

I believe he just turned twenty six, So does he fit that long term mold?

And same for beshe?

You know, does Boshett also fit that mole?

Bashett is a little younger, right, he's younger than Bregman.

Is that a guy they would like to extend or not extend put forth a longer deal?

I don't know.

I think I don't think they would.

Probably he's probably going to be wanting to get at least a six year deal.

I think if Alonzo got five and he's older than Bushett, I think Boushett ends up getting at least a six year deal, maybe seven.

Do the Red Sox want to go that length and by the end of that contract, he'd be like thirty five.

Do the Red Sox want to get into that territory or would they maybe offer say a six year deal to Murakami who has strikeout issues.

But maybe but the Red Sox, you go back here, Let's actually look at a little stat here.

Let's take a look.

Let me see if I can pull this up really quick.

One thing with the Red Sox that they have really liked over the last few years.

You look at the exit villo.

Right, Let's go to the stat cast over the last few years, the Red Sox rank sixth overall.

I can't zoom out crap, The Red Sox rank sixth overall in average exit villo.

Well, Murakami that he is a he's a big bopper, but he strikes out a lot.

So the Red Sox over the years they have preferred guys that have good plate discipline.

Right, But I wonder if maybe the Red Sox look at that opportunity and they look at the upside of him because he has the power for a left handed bat to clear at Femway Park.

I know people are gonna they're gonna look at you know, Yoshidah how that's been just you know, has not fully worked out.

Do they try again for a Japanese hitter.

Well, here's the difference with Murakami and Yoshida.

Yoshida was more of like a more of a contact kind of a guy with some pop right.

Murakami is all pop low contact.

Do the Red Sox feel like they could sure something up there and they could get the strikeouts down?

You know?

That is one thing with Roman Anthony they're coming into uh after they drafted Roman.

There were there was some swing and miss with Roman and they have obviously it helped him improve that not as bad as Murakami, nowhere near it, but maybe the Red Sox feel like, hey, we might be able to fix this, you know, we might be able to really get that thirty percent strikeout rate in Japan and maybe get that to a healthier number.

Depends on what they think.

I don't know, but he definitely has the exit velo.

He definitely has that raw power that they do like, does he end up being a guy where you know?

Because also I wonder about his market right now?

What is this guy's market?

I don't even know what his market is.

We haven't heard anything about him but not a thing.

Nothing.

I haven't heard one team.

I haven't seen one team out there connected with Murakami.

I don't know.

The Pasreis would have been a great fit.

But then all of a sudden we got all these reports so that you know they're they're having troubles with money and the ownership.

I don't know if they're gonna sell or whatever.

So I don't know if the Pareis are gonna be a fit anymore.

The Dodgers just never look like a fit because they already got guys like at you know, first base, DH third base, so there's not really a fit there for him.

The Angels do the Angels put down the money.

I don't know.

I just what is the fit here?

Who is the team?

I highly doubt he's gonna go back to Japan.

There's just too much upside with the guy.

You know.

It's not like Sigana a couple of years ago, a few years ago, where you know, he was an older guy at the time already and uh, you know, I don't know, but but him, I feel like there's just too much upside there.

But then again, maybe teams are just weary of the swing and miss the numbers against the higher v low, which I'm not too worried about with the VLO, you know, listen, I think the guy's just got too much power, too much upside there with the batted ball profile that I don't know.

I feel like you make some adjustments, he'll end up being okay.

I wonder if the Red Sox could be informed For me, personally, I would rather go for Okamoto.

That's just me because I just like the higher floor.

He's more of a sure thing.

But if there is a team out there that could possibly be a fit for Murakami, maybe the Red Sox, because the only time they do long term deals is for younger players, and he's probably not gonna break the bank.

I would think, if I don't know, does he end up getting more than twenty million per year?

Like could you get him on like a six year one twenty something like that.

I think that, you know, maybe a little bit twenty two million per year, you know, like a six one thirty.

I don't know, and maybe you could put you know, put like incentives in there and some options or whatever.

I don't know.

I wonder about Murakami.

I can't help but wonder about it, especially now that Alonzo and Schwarber off the board, I keep thinking about Murakami and Okamoto.

We will see what ends up happening.

But you know, at the end of the day, everybody circling back to the beginning of the show, they don't believe in long term deals.

Well, I think it's more so the fact, you know, they don't want to get themselves hamstrung, and they don't want to get themselves locked into you know, bad contracts, which listen have bitten the Red Sox in the butt over the years they have.

You know, that's not my opinion, that's not how I feel.

It's just fact.

Right, if you look at all the long term deals the Red Sox have given out, they have lost money on those deals, right, It's just if you look at the combination.

Yes, they've had some good seasons out of those long term deals and seasons that have contributed to a World Series championship, which is the goal at the end of the day, Which is why I do think you need to get uncomfortable at times.

But I don't know, I think this is the time to get a bit uncomfortable.

But it sounds like they don't want you right now.

Maybe if they feel like they are closer to a World Series.

You know, they got knocked out in the wild card round.

Maybe, like you know, maybe they get deeper into a postseason last next year, and maybe that changes the mind a little bit.

I don't know.

I'm not sure what's going on, but just because of this article, it doesn't make me think they're not going to improve this team.

It was frustrating see those guys come off the board, but remember we were frust when Max Freed came off the board last year and then we got Garrett Crowschey ended up being a good offseason, remember that.

Remember when Max Freed went to the Yankees.

Is Pete Alonso going to the Orioles?

This version, this year's version of Max Freed.

We had a great offseason last year.

There's still a lot of things they can do.

We'll see, we'll see.

You might not like my positivity, but you know that's my job.

I'm here to help you feel a little bit better.

I know things are looking a little murky, but I'm doing my best to help you feel better.

I'm still positive, and maybe I look like the dummy in the end, but you know what, there's still a lot of avenues.

You can go here.

I'm gonna wrap it up right there, ladies and gentlemen.

That is enough of me yapping here tonight.

I agree Justin just wants something to happen.

Just want something to happen, Ryan Adams, No, Robbie, because they aren't giving out the enticing contracts.

Yeah, I mean, listen, I think they they're going to make some moves here.

They're going to make some moves.

I think it'll end up being okay.

I think it'll end up being okay.

Mason Red Sox acting like a small market team is comical and insulting.

Oh, I wouldn't say they're acting like a small market team.

I think they're being a little annoying.

Though.

It's like, come on, can you just give Alonso the Polar Bear the money for crying out loud?

Can you just make it happen?

Make it happen, cappen.

I don't know what do we got going on?

Fibbs need a tucker off the board.

It's clear it's the Blue Jays, you know.

I wonder, I wonder what's gonna happen there, And that kind of connects with Bo Baschett.

So that's where I don't know.

Is Tucker's market just not there?

Is Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso last year, but like plus where this guy's looking for.

It was looking like he was clearly gonna get himself like a ten year deal or something.

You know, I don't know what's going on, but maybe the Blue Jays are that team.

And if he ends up going to Toronto, then what happens with Baschett?

I don't know?

And then uh c h Man, I heard the Dodgers are in on Tucker now and listen, I keep wondering if Tucker ends up going there and a short deal, does he end up doing what Bregman and Alonso did last year?

Take the short deal, go to take a three year deal with an opt out, opt out after the first year, and then, uh, you know, you got that first year with the Dodgers to try and help them get a three peet.

You got the lockout, and then you could opt out after, you know, after next year, and then try again once you know everything with the lockout is figured out.

You know, you would think, if you're Tucker, you would like that long term security now.

But if it doesn't materialize, you know, maybe he goes out there, makes makes sure he stays healthy for this coming year.

He keeps himself in good shape and he's got everything ready to go with the body, and then he has himself a good year.

Well then he can go try again next time.

So I wonder if that ends up happening, do the Dodgers just wait around and they get Kyle Tucker on a short opt out deal.

I wonder.

There's a lot of different things going on right now, A lot of different things going on, but everybody that is it for I didn't realize my camera was just cut off right there.

Goodness, gracious, I'm a mess over here.

I'm a mess.

I'm out here, everybody.

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Though, the felt