Seven Red Sox-centric questions to get you through the last week of November and Thanksgiving:

1. Are the Garrett Crochet mock trade proposals getting out of hand?

This week, former MLB general manager and current analyst Jim Bowden suggested that Wilyer Abreu, Triston Casas, and Connor Wong would “probably” be enough to land Crochet.

Why stop there? Send all of the “Big Four” prospects, too! Maybe throw in a Fabergé egg or the Hope Diamond.

One-third of the starting lineup in exchange for two years of club control on a pitcher who’s only spent one year in the starting rotation. Holy recency bias, Batman.

Crochet pitched a career-high 146 innings over 32 White Sox starts in 2024. Before this season, he’d thrown exactly 73 innings total since his 2020 debut, all in relief. His previous single-season mark was 54 ⅓ innings in 2021.

Usage became a significant question mark as the season went on, especially after Crochet made it known that he wanted the security of a long-term extension before he would agree to pitch in the postseason. Doing so came off as demanding, an unappealing quality for a largely-unproven player who had no right to veto a trade, and hinted that the lefty felt he might be at a higher risk for serious injuries. Between that and the White Sox’s desired trade return, prospective teams backed off.

Abreu just won a Gold Glove in his rookie season and received AL Rookie of the Year votes. Casas missed most of the season with a freak rib injury, but was second runner-up for Rookie of the Year the year before. Wong and Casas don’t hit free agency until 2029, and Abreu the year after.

The Red Sox could certainly use a left-handed starter, but they can’t get desperate. They’ve spent too much time rebuilding to throw caution – and one-third of their lineup – to the wind now.

2. Should the Red Sox move Rafael Devers off third base for Nolan Arenado?

If the Red Sox are going to move their homegrown superstar slugger off his spot when he’s only just turned 28 and two years into his franchise-record contract, they’ll need a really good reason.

Nolan Arenado certainly qualifies. In 12 big-league seasons, he’s won 10 Gold Gloves, six Platinum Gloves, and five Silver Slugger awards.

If the eight-time All-Star is willing to waive his full no-trade clause, the Cardinals are open to trading him. He has three years and $52 million remaining on his nine-year, $275 million contract.

However, Arenado turns 34 in April and his bat power is in rapid decline. In 152 games this year he only hit 16 home runs, his lowest single-season total since he was a rookie in 2013. His slugging percentage has dropped significantly over the last three seasons – .533 to .459 to .394 – and his hard-hit rate plummeted from 38.1 percent in ‘23, to 31.7 percent in ‘24.

Devers wouldn’t be happy about relocation, either, and angering one’s cornerstone player isn’t exactly a recipe for success. He’s worked diligently on defense, and took pride in the improved results this year. More than once throughout the season, manager Alex Cora spoke about the numbers not painting an accurate picture of Devers’ performance. (Having spent the season eye-testing, I’m inclined to agree.)

But the Red Sox are considering all of this. Add it to the list of reasons to believe they’re serious about winning again.

3. Will the Sox trade Casas?

The Red Sox want to upgrade their starting rotation and balance the lineup, and trading the left-handed hitting Triston Casas could check off both boxes. The Seattle Mariners and Miami Marlins, for example, could use a first baseman and they have pitching to offer in return.

Who takes over if Casas is dealt? Blaze Jordan is the only first-base prospect in the organization’s top 30, and the Sox just left him unprotected in next month’s Rule 5 Draft. They could sign righty bat Pete Alonso, or put versatile top prospect Kristian Campbell (also a righty) at third and could move Devers to first. However, as outlined above, that route could backfire.

4. How much will the Red Sox offer Juan Soto?

With initial meetings over, teams are expected to begin submitting offers to Soto this week.

The Red Sox are significantly more involved than most expected, but will they really put a $600 million proposal on the table? Forget the shallow end of the big-spenders pool, they’ve barely dipped their toes in the water these last five years. A legitimate offer to Soto would be the cannonball off the high-dive to end all cannonballs.

5. What if the Ted Williams/Joe DiMaggio trade had actually come to fruition?

In honor of the late Joe DiMaggio’s birthday on Monday, MLB’s X account posted about his 56-game hitting streak in 1941.

Yet as statistician Ryan Spaeder pointed out in a quote-tweet, Ted Williams still hit for a better average during his fellow Hall of Famer’s legendary streak. Teddy Ballgame also finished his entire career with a higher on-base percentage (.482) than the Yankee Clipper posted over those 56 games (.463).

DiMaggio was the bigger star at the time, in part because he won nine championships with the Yankees while the Red Sox were only a few decades into an 86-year drought. In retrospect, however, Williams far outpaced his Yankee counterpart in Wins Above Replacement, games, hits, home runs, RBI, average, OBP, and slugging percentage.

So imagine if then-Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey and Yankees general manager Lee MacPhail had actually followed through after getting drunk at Toots Shor’s and supposedly agreeing to swap superstars in 1947. DiMaggio would have gotten to play the outfield with his brother, Dom. Williams likely would’ve won at least one World Series; the Yankees won 11 during his 19-year Red Sox career.

It’s definitely one of the biggest ‘What Ifs’ in baseball history, especially seeing as one of the reasons the deal supposedly fell through was that Yawkey wanted the Yankees to give up a young prospect named Yogi Berra, too.

6. Is Dustin Pedroia a Hall of Famer?

Pedroia’s Hall of Fame candidacy is, unfortunately, more intriguing than it should’ve been. If he’d stayed healthy – and Manny Machado wasn’t such a fan of a dirty slide – Pedroia likely would be finishing out a much longer, slam-dunk Hall of Fame career on his own terms.

For over a decade, Pedroia played Cooperstown-caliber baseball. As The Athletic’s Jayson Stark pointed out, from 2007 through 2016, only Robinson Cano, Adrian Beltre, Albert Pujols, and Miguel Cabrera had higher WAR. With the exception of Cano, whose career is tainted with performance-enhancing drug suspensions, that’s a Hall of Fame crew. Beltre was inducted this summer on his first ballot, and Pujols and Cabrera are likely to receive their own bronze plaques as soon as they’re eligible.

7. Do you remember the song “Merry Merry Merry Frickin’ Christmas (World Champion Red Sox Anthem)” by Frickin’ A?

This one’s for research purposes. Inquiring minds – also known as my inbox and I – want to know.