🔴 Live – Willson Contreras TRADED To The Red Sox!

🔴 Live – Willson Contreras TRADED To The Red Sox!

to be in the American League East. Another blockbuster in that division, Wilson Contrus is being traded. So, we are coming on live as close to the breaking news as possible to react to the deal, also to react to what’s going back to St. Louis number one. And I’m also curious if there’s going to be any money that the St. Lewis Cardinals are going to be sending along with Wilson Conturus because Wilson Contrus has $18 million owed to him this upcoming season, 18.5 for 2027 and then a club option for 17.5 with a buyout that is $5 million. So, are we getting this deal done and Boston’s eating this contract or is money coming along? We’ll take a look at that by the time if especially if you’re watching the replay, you will probably already know the answer to that. But this is an interesting trade. Boston Red Sox have been reluctant and hesitant to do the long-term the multi-year deals. And it it become obvious that the trade market is how they were going to improve their club and grabbing Wilson Contreras to be the first baseman. Again, it’s a two-year deal, maybe a third year, and then they’re done. They’re not having to go long on any of the free agents that are out there that want big dollars, want hundred million dollars, what five, six years, $200 million, all that stuff. Boston doesn’t seem to be into that. So, they get Wilson Contrarus. Are you a fan of this move? If you are a Boston Red Sox fan, Wilson Contrus is coming off of a decent year uh with the bat, 20 home runs, a 447 slug. I caution that the OPS ticked down below the 20 24 final and below his career average. He’s 33 years old. He’s going to be 34 years old. which which direction is that going to go? Now, it’s again probably just two years in Boston. And if he’s great, there’s a third year. So, that’s a good deal if you’re the Red Sox because if it bounces back, if he’s able to hold steady, then you have a 800 OPS guy in this lineup and the lineup is very left-handed heavy. So, you get some balance there as well. We take a look at this Red Sox lineup. Fan graphs has not yet updated the lineup and you see all the lefties. Roman Anthony, Jared Durant, Will Abrao, Basitaki, Yoshida, Tristan Casus, Marcelo Meyer, Tristan Casus. Bye. I mean, he’s he’s definitely a casualty of this trade. A domino effect that will at some point uh fall as Tristan Cases. Tristan Kas could be in this trade. Uh let’s see. A lot of you are live telling me to go check Jeff Passid right now that there is more information. Let’s just go right to passing. We can scroll and see what else is going on here. Right-hander Hunter Dobbins is the headliner in the package going back to St. Louis for Wilson Contrarus that if you’re a Cardinals fan, how much are you expecting to get back? Hunter Dobins obviously is going to have a lot of control here. uh just 13 games at the major league level last year, but not really a well- reggarded prospect at any point kind of an uh outside of the Boston Red Sox going to be more of an under the radar piece. I don’t have a whole lot to say about Hunter Dobbins. I’m not going to pretend like I know who he is. I thought he was Aiden Mullins at first, so I’m not going to lie to you and say Hunter Dobbins, oh yeah, this and and just read the scouting report to you. But what what what the the the component uh that you’re getting is a pitcher with control, a pitcher that is in your rotation plans most likely for the 2026 season. And you’re getting Wilson Contrus’s money off the books. How much of that money is coming off the books is an interesting piece and we’re still trying to find out. I’m curious if Red Sox fans, look, this is the this is the path the Red Sox chose over Pete Alonzo, Kyle Schwarber, they choose Wilson Contrus. And Wilson Contrus to his credit is good at first base. That is a position that the Cardinals transitioned him to and he did a very good job at first base. So, he will be your first baseman. This again most certainly is the end for Tristan Casus in Boston. Now, what’s Tristan Casus’ trade value right now? Uh Tristan Casus had had a had a had a great year, then he got hurt uh and then he got hurt again. and and we we don’t really know we don’t really know what Tristan Casus is anymore. So, what’s the trade value there? Do you just send him off and and put him in a spot where he’ll it’ll be good for the player? He’ll have a shot, he’ll have a chance to, you know, to make it or do you just sit on him and he’s coming off the bench? I don’t I I at the end of the day, I mean, this is going to be your first baseman for at least the next two years, not Tristan Casus. The one thing I don’t like, and if if you’ve if you’ve been with me long enough, you hear me talk about plate approach, metrics, that’s all this stuff right here, and it’s all in blue. It is all below league average. Chase rate, whiff rate, K rate, walk rate, all below league average. Don’t love that stuff. But when he does make contact, good things are happening. If you can work with him, get him into a better pitch selection mode, get him into a a better just a a better situation at the plate, maybe you can improve some of those metrics. Because even if you if you cut that chase rate down, what what it shows you is room to improve. Because if you cut that chase rate down and you got back got to like a 25%. Oh, could you imagine what that would do to the rest of his production if you could increase that walk rate? I mean, the guy in 2024 had a 380 on base percentage. Let’s go to the 2024 numbers. I mean, what happened from 2025 to 2024 or from 2024 to 2025? This man had a near 13% walk rate, which was almost best in the league. That dropped from 12.6 to 7.8, but they just tell him to let it rip. Wilson, let it rip, buddy. Nobody cares this year anyway. I don’t know how we got how we saw that kind of a change. Um, I mean, even in 2023, it was a 10. It was 10.3. So 2025 really we saw the walk rate go down. We saw him swinging and missing. We saw him striking out at a higher rate and that brought some of his numbers. If you if you can fix that and get back to 2024, then you probably get that OPS back up into the mid800s. And that’s what you want. That’s what you’re looking for if you’re Boston. There’s no increasing only decreasing from here, says sunny days. And that may be true because we’re 33 years old. We’re going to be 34. the age only goes up and you start to see skills decline. You start to see the performance go the wrong way. If you are a Boston Red Sox fan, are are you good with this? How are you feeling? Ken Rosenthal has the full trade. All let’s go check that out. Red Sox are sending Hunter Dobbins. I don’t know how to pronounce that name. I’m not even going to try. Not going to embarrass myself. And Blake, don’t know how to pronounce that name either. Ada Ida. I’ll at least take a shot at that one. I’m not going to embarrass myself with that first name to the Cardinals. So, you’re sending three pitchers. Let’s see if those players are in that Boston farm system. Uh, as far as the top 25 goes or top 30. Let’s look for a couple of names that I quite frankly cannot pronounce. Not even close. I would have to Google how to pronounce those names. There we go. Farardo Fardo. It’s probably a silent Jay. I’m guessing Fardo number 23 in the farm system in international signing. 19 years old. Looked good last year at some low levels. Okay. Um let’s see. I one thing I do with all of my prospects is I look at the K rate. I look at the K rate. To me, it’s an indicator of stuff compared to the level that you’re at. >> Uh, K usually come down as players rise and players from Boston repeatedly. Any takers on Nado, N Plaza, not Donovan also love the hard work you give daily. >> Thank you, John. I do appreciate the donation. Appreciate the comment. Appreciate you hopping in. It’s a Sunday night. We are creeping up on Christmas. I know people are doing holiday things. Maybe this is an escape from a holiday thing, but I appreciate you hopping in and being here. Uh, Brian, you like the move. So, we have the full trait. So, to close the book on my comment about Farardo, I think that’s how you pronounce it anyway. Um, I if if he had pitched 51 in a third innings, if if the stuff was there, I I would like to see that strikeout number be closer to like 70 uh or 75 because again, that’s going to come down. We’re gonna lose the K rate and is really going to come down to what you got. We got fast ball slider change ups. have three pitches. So, he’s he’s he’s probably he’s probably not a starter as he continues to grow unless he can develop another pitch. So, he’s in the deal and then a player who is not in the top 25. So, the number 27 last year, the number 23 this year, and a guy who’s outside of the farm system heads to the Cardinals. At at the end of the day, it’s three pitchers that you have a chance to hit on. And for Wilson Contrarus, you’re trying to get money off the books. It’s not a bad job. Again, as I said with the Cardinals trade when they traded Sunny Gray, it’s a win. It’s a win. This for the Cardinals for for the for the Yeah. Why? And by the way, to your point, um, John, why why couldn’t we just have all done this with the Sunny Gray thing? So, you look at the Cardinals are are finally doing something they should have done a year, I would argue two years ago. If you remember, I was down at the Bet US house with with Wardy and Robbie and we were doing the live streams. We were doing the season previews and I was literally u violently disgusted by this the path that the St. Louis Cardinals were headed down. was two years ago and they’re finally moving on. They’re finally rebuilding, rebooting, redoing this thing and it’s about a year or two too late. We’ll see how much money the Red Sox are going to be eating here. But um if you are the Red Sox. So So from the Cardinals, give me your grades. Let’s take a look at Catillo. Catillo, give me your grades on this trade. Not for the Red Sox, just for the Cardinals. For the Cardinals, those of you that are live with me, give me your grade. Is this an A? Is it a B? Is it not enough? We are still looking to see how much money is in this, but from a trade return. Um, oh, and here you go. Red Sox getting Wilson Contraras and 8 million in cash. So, there you go. You have the full trade now. You have the full trade. What is your grade for the Cardinals? The Cardinals are paying 8 million. That’s not really substantial. Bob Nightingale said it was going to be substantial. Um 8 million of the 40 or so that’s on the books. That’s pretty good. So that’s about 32 million at least off the books. Remember there’s also that option. So a significant amount off the books and you’re getting three pitching prospects. I like it. I like it. It’s a It’s a B. It’s a It’s an A. It’s at least a B. me ball cap from a still brokenhearted Blue Jays man. >> Birkenstock, thank you for the donation. I know it still hurts, right? It still hurts even though it’s been how long? Two months. It feels I don’t know. It It does still hurt. Uh some B’s, some A’s, some C’s. They were never going to get anything substantial. They were never going to get a top prospect, but getting three pitching prospects, this is a good job. And I trust Heim Bloom and his minions to be able to on these three at least hit on one of them. So I I’m going to go B or an A. I like A. At least the B for the Cardinals. Now for the Red Sox, the Red Sox par with the three prospects. Look at it from the Red Sox side. Leave your grapes for the Red Sox. I mean, look, [snorts] Dobbins. Dobbins does not fit in this rotation this year. Uh early totally those two guys knocking on the door. Cutter Crawford. Uh you’ve got Sunny Gray, you’ve you’ve got Garrett Crochet, you got Brian Beao, you’ve got Look, there’s all he was going to be Dobbins was was was starting pitching depth. So that’s that’s expendable. And then the two prospects, I mean, a 19year-old outside the top 25, a guy that I’m not really impressed with his K rate at the low levels, has three pitches, has to develop it. There’s a lot of things that have to happen there. So, that guy could could launch and be great or he could flame out and be nothing. And Ada, don’t know if that’s how you say his name. I’m going out on a limb. Same thing. So you’re giving up, if you’re the Red Sox, you’re giving up three pitching prospects. But fine, nobody well regarded, nobody highly regarded. So from a just looking at it from a trade element, I give this I would have I would have thought maybe Boston could get a little bit more money here, but I’m kind of leaning towards a B plus for Boston. Uh maybe, you know, give me more money. Give me give me more money. Give me like 15 million and I’ll take this to an A for the Red Sox. Double the money and I would be at an A for the Red Sox. But I’m at a B+, which is a good grade. But from a general offseason approach, I think that’s where some of you who are, you know, giving this a C or giving it a D. From a general offseason approach, that’s the L. Look, Wilson Contreras will do fine, but Wilson Contreras isn’t going to do what somebody like Peter Lonzo was going to do. And the the the situation is that the Red Sox aren’t are are a aren’t going to be looking for him to do that. But what they were trying to do, the Red Sox got the I really feel like the Red Sox and the New York Mets like got the got the same script. They’ve talked to the same business manager. They’re doing the same thing. Uh no, we don’t want the expense. Five years. Too many. No sir. We’re not do we’re not going more than three. We’re going to go find the guy that we can have. I mean the the Mets with Palano for two years. The Red Sox with Contras for two years. Maybe three. Both teams choosing lesser players and fewer dollar uh commitments. I mean, and it’s this is Boston and New York. Are you are you in World Series or bust mode or not? And I think the answer is not. You are trying to make your club better. You’re trying to win and you’re trying to do it for a certain cost and we’re all trying to do something for a certain cost, but it just seems like these guys are not operating at that World Series or bus mode. They’re like they’re operating at let’s just get it. Let’s just make it to the playoffs. You can see the teams that are clearly operating in World Series or bus mode. I know the Cardinals, they they made the trade or the the Red Sox have made the trade for Sunny Gray. You got Wilson Contraras on board. Now, let’s see if we’ve updated the Red Sox. Um, let’s see what else we have here. But it just something I don’t know. I I’m I’m I’m I’m sort of I’m scoffing at the idea of these teams in major markets being reluctant to open up the wallet and go more than three years. >> What does this mean for Bobett? Well, I mean, I I think Boston’s, if you’re if you’re thinking about the whole Bo Bashette Boston connection, Boston’s out as long as Bo wants more than three or four years. Boston’s not not not going to be there. And Bo will get more than three or four years. The Blue Jays will give him that. Uh, he’ll go out there and he’ll find maybe San Francisco. May I mean, just fill in the blank. I don’t want to throw out teams because then it’ll think I’m I’m linking teams. I’m not linking any teams. Just fill in the blank. Bo will go to fill-in-theblank team. Um, he’ll get his offers. He’ll go to another fill-in-theblank team. He’ll get the offers. And then he’ll go to the Blue Jays and say, “I got a five-year deal. I got a six-year deal, and I got a three-year deal from the Red Sox.” Uh, and and and the Blue Jays will match the best offer. And the best offer will be that uh that five or six or sevenyear deal. And I so so for as far as Bob Bashette goes, it just confirms that the Boston Red Sox have no interest in any of the free agents that want more than three years. And Bo fits in that category. Boston is getting worse. I wouldn’t say you’re getting I I I will I will I will disagree with that. They’re worse than they could have been, but they’re getting better. Wilson Contreras I do believe is an upgrade for first base over what the plan was looking like. You have some more balance in this lineup now. I think another move needs to happen. Uh Duran or Abrau. You see you see how they’ve got Fan Graphs has them all fitting in here nicely. Well, the problem is and you don’t see the problem here. You got to scroll down a little ways to find the pro. Wait, did they now put Tristan Costa? Tristan Costa is now on the protected injury. I don’t think he was there earlier, wasn’t he? When we started this thing in the lineup. So, you have to scroll down and there’s the problem. Christian Campbell is ultimately the problem here because he’s got to play. They paid him and he has a lot of talent. He had some things he still needed to work on. He wasn’t ready yet, but he is the second baseman. So, sit down on Raphaela. He moves back to the outfield and when he does then Durant or Abrau no longer have a spot because Masaki Yosha is also going to play and Duran Abrau very likely that they get traded and if you do that opens up the spot to bring in another righty bat or or just in general by bringing Campbell back into the fold and having Raphaela move to the outfield. That is one righty bat in and then either Abrao or Duran is a lefty bat that moves out and you have a nicely balanced lineup. Contraras definitely improve things there. Do I think they go for Bregman? Uh question from Siggy Boy. I think the problem is years again. I I don’t think they go for Bregman if Bregman wants more than three or four years. I think they’re out. If that is the situation, does does does this Wilson Contreras signing, and I hate that I’m getting to this at the 28 minute mark, but does this Wilson Contras signing mean that the Red Sox are out on Alex Bregman? I won’t say definitively yes, but I will say that if we get to the end of this off season or if we hear that Bregman signs a deal that has us banging our heads saying why did the Red Sox are probably Marte so if he’s so traded who does it? >> Uh Red Sox say Nigel says the Red Sox are probably out on Catel Marte so if he is traded who does it? Uh, that is a very interesting question, Zachary. The Catel Marte situation. I just dropped something. The Catel Marte situation. There’s um I just had and and I can’t believe I am blanking on this. Um, who are my teams for Catel Marte because I just did a brand new Catel Marte piece. Uh, I’ve been posting on Tik Tok and my my teams. I had the Red Sox in at number two, which is I mean I guess I mean if Bob says they’re out that they’re out, but I mean it could still happen, especially if they’re not going to bring Alex Bregman back. The uh I had the Red Sox, too. I had I had the Seattle Mariners as my favorite team. The Cubs were also one of my teams that I liked for Marte because the Cubs could send Nico her back in that trade. So, the Diamondbacks could get a second base replacement on top of the pitching that they would get back from the Cubs. And uh so, and I also like the Royals, the Rays, and I have the Blue Jays as an honorable mention, but that’s only if the Blue Jays lose out on Bo Bashette and Kyle Tucker. Uh I think the Blue Jays would be more into a Catel Marte trade than they would be signing Alex Bregman. But the whole thought process of does this mean that uh and thank you for the donation, Zachary. Does this mean that the Red Sox will be out on Alex Bregman definitively? I I cannot say that for for certain because the first base was always a spot for them to improve. You you you had a a Tristan Kasa situation that just seemed like that was going to come to an end one way or another. Now that is most certainly what’s going to be the case. I had been in the camp for a while before the Pete Lonzo signing feeling like the Red Sox could do the combo uh Lonzo and Bregman deal from a fit standpoint. Now, from how much they want and for how many years they want, that wasn’t a fit. But from a lineup, from a defensive alignment, it worked. So, that would mean that you could still do this deal. You would have uh Contrarus at first. You have Marcelo Meyer. He could move to second base. You could leave Christian Campbell in that development stage down in the minors and then bring him up if somebody gets hurt. And third base would be Alex Bregman. Shortstop would be Trevor Story. Trevor Story has two more years, I think. And then when he moves on, you have uh you have multiple options for for shortstop there. So it it it still works. But again, if he doesn’t come back, we can point to this signing, this moment as an indication that they were they were moving on from Alex Bregman. As it is, I think it’s an indication that that philosophy that this team just does not want to go long on years and high on dollars. But that’s confirmed because Wilson Contrus compared to the other options that are were out there is the cheaper play from that perspective. 100%. So that is that is my feeling on that. Anything else that is percolating right now? Let’s check that as we are uh for those watching the replay. We are still live at the moment. Obviously if we weren’t I would have gone away by now. Let’s see what we have here. Red Sox expected to end the talks with Catel Marte. So are you telling me See? Okay. Okay. Okay. Hold on. Pause. Pause on that timeout. You c I can’t imagine that the pieces that went in the controvers trade would have been the pieces that would have gone in the Catel Marte trade. The the pieces that would have gone to to the Diamondbacks would have been far more substantial. You can still do the deal. Catel Marte could be the second baseman for the Boston Red Sox. There’s really no reason why not. But okay, so according to Bob, they’re going to end trade talks with the Diamondbacks. So there we go. Wilson Contrus to the Boston Red Sox and the Cardinals keep trying to stock up on that farm system. A for the Cardinals trade, B+ for the Red Sox. Those are my final grades. And if you want to go A for the Red Sox, I’m not going to argue with you. I I I can actually see your argument. Um and if you want to get out of the A for the Cardinals, uh and you want to go B, I I’m going to be fine with that, too. What I would what I will start to push back and disagree with is if you think the Cardinals get like a D for the trade, that’s not it. And if the Red Sox get a D for the trade, that’s not we’re not I don’t think we have uh low grades here for for either side. But I do think in the end the Cardinals uh the Cardinals did a better job of getting done what they needed to do overall. And that’s why I give the Cardinals the higher grade here. It’s my feeling on that. All right, guys. Let me get out of are going to go watch this Sunday night football game because the Bills won their game today. Even though they tried hard to not win their game today, I think all they wanted to do was make sure that Miles Garrett didn’t set the sack record and it and it changed their game plan. It was it was one of the ugliest games I’ve seen the Bills play this year. Horrible. Um Shadur Sanders almost beat the damn Bills, but that’s it. I got jitters. All I can do is like shake when I think about that game right now. Um, I’m glad they won. Um, but I really need the Patriots to lose. Really need the Patriots to lose because I need the Bills to to pull even with the Patriots on the record. So, I’m going to go watch that game. If another trade goes down, another big signing goes down. We’ll be back, even if it’s during the football game. So, make sure the notifications are turned on and you guys are subscribed so you can find your way back. That’s it. We’re out of here. Ballcap Nation, I salute you. Thank you for coming in. 100 Club. An extra salute to you guys. Thank you for making it to the end of another video. Everybody, make sure to smash that like on the way out. And remember, if it’s low, let it go. And if it’s high, let it fly. I’ll catch you next

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