2015 Red Sox In-Season Thread

[iortiz]

Kluber and Carrasco are a pipe dream and if so, they are going to cost a haul.

 

I do not see the Guardians trading their best pitchers, why would they do that?

[FenwayFaithful]

Why the heck would they trade Kluber? He just signed a very, very, VERY team friendly 5-year, $38.5 million extension in the spring. Why the heck would they trade him?

 

Sounds like the silly Chris Sale rumors last year.

[a700hitter]

Why the heck would they trade Kluber? He just signed a very, very, VERY team friendly 5-year, $38.5 million extension in the spring. Why the heck would they trade him?

 

Sounds like the silly Chris Sale rumors last year.

Or the King Felix discussion from a several years ago.

[iortiz]

Or the King Felix discussion from a several years ago.

 

 

Or Stanton haha

[a700hitter]

Or Stanton haha

I just don't think that Ben has clue with regard to building sustainable success. He has wasted a ton of money. We could have finished last with a $70 million payroll. It cost him $200 million/year to stay in last place 2 years in a row. That is astounding. On what planet do you do the Porcello contract? Planet Ben in the outer reaches of the Universe. How is Castillo deserving of a bigger contract than Jose Abreu or Yasiel Puig? He isn't. What the heck was he thinking about giving away a solid proven starter in Lackey getting paid the minimum wage for Joe Car Wreck Kelly and AAAlan Craig? Who pays a human meatball $95 million to play third base for their team? Who pays $100 million to an infield to play the OF for you when he has never played there before? The answers to all these questions are the same, and yes, this is bitching, but there is a lot to bitch about.

[iortiz]

I just don't think that Ben has clue with regard to building sustainable success. He has wasted a ton of money. We could have finished last with a $70 million payroll. It cost him $200 million/year to stay in last place 2 years in a row. That is astounding. On what planet do you do the Porcello contract? Planet Ben in the outer reaches of the Universe. How is Castillo deserving of a bigger contract than Jose Abreu or Yasiel Puig? He isn't. What the heck was he thinking about giving away a solid proven starter in Lackey getting paid the minimum wage for Joe Car Wreck Kelly and AAAlan Craig? Who pays a human meatball $95 million to play third base for their team? Who pays $100 million to an infield to play the OF for you when he has never played there before? The answers to all these questions are the same, and yes, this is bitching, but there is a lot to bitch about.

Planet Ben? LOL!

 

Yes, Ben and his crew have to go. In the meantime I would try to move all those stupid contracts.

[User Name]

Why the heck would they trade Kluber? He just signed a very, very, VERY team friendly 5-year, $38.5 million extension in the spring. Why the heck would they trade him?

 

Sounds like the silly Chris Sale rumors last year.

 

Because they have a bunch of holes and a lot of pitching depth.

[sk7326]

Why the heck would they trade Kluber? He just signed a very, very, VERY team friendly 5-year, $38.5 million extension in the spring. Why the heck would they trade him?

 

Sounds like the silly Chris Sale rumors last year.

 

Can fill the roster with other studs. Moreover, they control has trade value too - and that could result in a bigger haul. For Cleveland, very clever deal ... bought one of Kluber's FA years by paying him more up front.

[FenwayFaithful]

If the Red Sox hadn't given Porcello that extension and he was a FA this offseason, what kind of contract do you think the market would give him?

 

Glad we locked him up before he pitched his way to more money and got even more expensive!!! Holy s***, Ben. How do you still have a job?

[jacksonianmarch]

There are inherent problems in the sox search for pitching. They don't want to part with prospects, so they're not getting top young talent under team control. They aren't willing to pay the money to get FA talent because they're unwilling to assume the risk at the end of the contract. The only method then to get ace talent is to develop it or to find the "diamond in the rough". The player that has the tools but hasn't shown the aptitude yet, with the hopes that the move to Boston and good coaching will unlock their potential. This is a small market philosophy and one of the reasons why teams like the Astros, Pirates, and Royals had to suck for so long before they could become good. The sox seem perfectly willing to throw bad money into their offense, not sure why they aren't willing to try and spend on their staff. You'll see if there's a shift in the paradigm this offseason, with so much pitching talent available to sign

[a700hitter]

If the Red Sox hadn't given Porcello that extension and he was a FA this offseason, what kind of contract do you think the market would give him?

 

Glad we locked him up before he pitched his way to more money and got even more expensive!!! Holy s***, Ben. How do you still have a job?

The same GM that would give almost $100 million to an obese third baseman that gets winded when he runs more than 90 feet, that can't field, that can't hit for power and that can't hit left-handed pitching. The same GM that gives $100 million to a guy that has never played the OF and puts him in LF. The same GM that thinks these were value acquisitions.

[sk7326]

There are inherent problems in the sox search for pitching. They don't want to part with prospects, so they're not getting top young talent under team control. They aren't willing to pay the money to get FA talent because they're unwilling to assume the risk at the end of the contract. The only method then to get ace talent is to develop it or to find the "diamond in the rough". The player that has the tools but hasn't shown the aptitude yet, with the hopes that the move to Boston and good coaching will unlock their potential. This is a small market philosophy and one of the reasons why teams like the Astros, Pirates, and Royals had to suck for so long before they could become good. The sox seem perfectly willing to throw bad money into their offense, not sure why they aren't willing to try and spend on their staff. You'll see if there's a shift in the paradigm this offseason, with so much pitching talent available to sign

 

Who said they won't part with prospects? They have in the past - just has to be the right guy coming back.

[Elktonnick]

The same GM that would give almost $100 million to an obese third baseman that gets winded when he runs more than 90 feet, that can't field, that can't hit for power and that can't hit left-handed pitching. The same GM that gives $100 million to a guy that has never played the OF and puts him in LF. The same GM that thinks these were value acquisitions.

 

Sox fans can debate and discuss possible moves and acquisitions. However, there is only one move that must be done before the team can get out of the enormous hole Cherrington has dug for it. Henry must fire Cherrington and hire an experienced GM.

[Kimmi]

The same GM that would give almost $100 million to an obese third baseman that gets winded when he runs more than 90 feet, that can't field, that can't hit for power and that can't hit left-handed pitching. The same GM that gives $100 million to a guy that has never played the OF and puts him in LF. The same GM that thinks these were value acquisitions.

 

Pablo has been worth $17.1, $14.3, and $23 million in his last 3 years. As I have said many times, I was not a fan of his contract. He is overpaid. But even factoring in a normal rate of decline, the contract is not outrageous. An overpay? Yes. Outrageous? No.

 

Hanley has been worth $16.5, $37.5, and $25.1 million in his last 3 years. Even factoring in his poor defense, questions concerning his "baggage", and normal decline, his contract was a good one.

 

When you consider that hitting is at a premium and the Sox desperately needed to upgrade its offense over last season, signing these guys had merit. Once again, sound strategy that didn't work.

[cp176]

Pablo has been worth $17.1, $14.3, and $23 million in his last 3 years. As I have said many times, I was not a fan of his contract. He is overpaid. But even factoring in a normal rate of decline, the contract is not outrageous. An overpay? Yes. Outrageous? No.

 

Hanley has been worth $16.5, $37.5, and $25.1 million in his last 3 years. Even factoring in his poor defense, questions concerning his "baggage", and normal decline, his contract was a good one.

 

When you consider that hitting is at a premium and the Sox desperately needed to upgrade its offense over last season, signing these guys had merit. Once again, sound strategy that didn't work.

 

Kimmi _ you are one of my favorites. What I hear is that it was a good idea. I agree- but I am also guilty of really not knowing much about Sandoval. His playoff production was certainly no driving factor to sign him. I was opposed to the Ramirez signing. At this point the Ramirez signing looks better to me than Sandoval's.

[Northern Star]

Pablo has been worth $17.1, $14.3, and $23 million in his last 3 years. As I have said many times, I was not a fan of his contract. He is overpaid. But even factoring in a normal rate of decline, the contract is not outrageous. An overpay? Yes. Outrageous? No.

 

Hanley has been worth $16.5, $37.5, and $25.1 million in his last 3 years. Even factoring in his poor defense, questions concerning his "baggage", and normal decline, his contract was a good one.

 

When you consider that hitting is at a premium and the Sox desperately needed to upgrade its offense over last season, signing these guys had merit. Once again, sound strategy that didn't work.

 

One of my problems with Sandoval is the inability to hit lefties clearly emerged while playing with the Giants. In my opinion, along with the wrong side of .800 OPS and small HR totals, he did not justify such a huge increase from $8mil. I don't care if he won the WS single handed if he's not particularly great with the bat or glove all season long.

[Northern Star]

Also, to give out that much of an increase without a conditioning clause, since this must clearly have been an issue for the Giants, is indefensible. Especially when we see him come out for "dehydration."

[cp176]

Also, to give out that much of an increase without a conditioning clause, since this must clearly have been an issue for the Giants, is indefensible. Especially when we see him come out for "dehydration."

 

Does this mean that you think he sucks? He is a small upgrade over what we had there. what we had there isn't in the majors any longer. Since it should never be Hanley, who gets to be the next one.Devers is 20 and the red Sox won't move a prospect like that for another 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 years? It won't be be Brock Holt . Actually i should have said that he is "big" upgrade. Fish or cut bait is the expression - I would give this slob one off season to see if he really gives a s***.

[Northern Star]

Does this mean that you think he sucks? He is a small upgrade over what we had there. what we had there isn't in the majors any longer. Since it should never be Hanley, who gets to be the next one.Devers is 20 and the red Sox won't move a prospect like that for another 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 years? It won't be be Brock Holt . Actually i should have said that he is "big" upgrade. Fish or cut bait is the expression - I would give this slob one off season to see if he really gives a s***.

 

I think he was the wrong target for a contract of that size, and to date, he's backed that point by poor play and poor conditioning. He's a liability on the basepaths too. It remains to be seen if he will magically improve next year and going forward, but I have my doubts. He must be moved to 1B or DH, and perhaps even sat against lefties.

[Northern Star]

You can argue whether the players Ben signed were the right targets or not, but to me it's the fast and loose handing out of money that's the main concern. The rush to extend Poorsigning and Miley, the butthurt rebound lashing out and grabbing Castillo when they lost out on Abreu (and paying Castillo MORE than Abreu got!!!) I think Ben has been foolish financially, was he really so blindly confident in these players being the goods, to hand them extensions before they'd pitched for the team and had a single MLB at bat respectively?

[Kimmi]

Kimmi _ you are one of my favorites. What I hear is that it was a good idea. I agree- but I am also guilty of really not knowing much about Sandoval. His playoff production was certainly no driving factor to sign him. I was opposed to the Ramirez signing. At this point the Ramirez signing looks better to me than Sandoval's.

 

Thank you CP. Even though we often disagree, the feeling is mutual.

 

I liked the Hanley signing. Of course, I didn't expect him to be so awful in LF. I knew he was not going to be good defensively, but you would really think that someone who has the ability to play SS could play LF at least at the same level.

 

As far as Sandoval goes, I agree with everyone that his weight seems to be becoming a problem. We all joked about it when he first signed, but it has never affected him this adversely before. The coaches need to insist that he condition better.

 

Also, I was reading today that Farrell would like to see Sandoval not play so far in defensively, but that he has not forced the issue because of Panda's comfort level with playing in. It seems to me that he could get to a lot more of those balls if he were playing back further. I don't know if disrupting his "comfort level" would do more harm though.

[Kimmi]

One of my problems with Sandoval is the inability to hit lefties clearly emerged while playing with the Giants. In my opinion, along with the wrong side of .800 OPS and small HR totals, he did not justify such a huge increase from $8mil. I don't care if he won the WS single handed if he's not particularly great with the bat or glove all season long.

 

I don't disagree with that. I did not like his contract. I thought there were better options. My preference was Headley. That said, we desperately needed an upgrade at 3B and Sandoval should have been a good upgrade. We can speculate all we want about why the FO didn't get Headley or Donaldson or anyone else instead, but we don't know if they were realistic options for the Sox.

[Northern Star]

 

I liked the Hanley signing. Of course, I didn't expect him to be so awful in LF. I knew he was not going to be good defensively, but you would really think that someone who has the ability to play SS could play LF at least at the same level.

 

 

The problem is Hanley's ability to play SS has been severely diminished lately. -0.6 DWAR in 2014.

[Northern Star]

I don't disagree with that. I did not like his contract. I thought there were better options. My preference was Headley. That said, we desperately needed an upgrade at 3B and Sandoval should have been a good upgrade. We can speculate all we want about why the FO didn't get Headley or Donaldson or anyone else instead, but we don't know if they were realistic options for the Sox.

 

Yeah, it's all too easy for us at home in the armchairs. What I don't like about MLB in the last couple of seasons is ordinary players getting what used to be superstar money. It's crazy.

[reYoukilis]

When you consider that hitting is at a premium and the Sox desperately needed to upgrade its offense over last season, signing these guys had merit. Once again, sound strategy that didn't work.

Yes, last year it was hitting but this year its pitching. And its not like the rotation was supposed to be great and just let us down, they tried to go cheap. Why demolish what was good about last year to fix what was bad? You stay the same.

 

Consequently if you do finally get a decent rotation through these prospects and cheap diamonds in the rough, Hanley and Pandas contracts will be up and we'll be back to square one.

 

This is why getting Panda and Hanley makes no sense. It reeks of desperation.

[waltr]

How much of an influence was the media in the Sandoval/Ramirez signings. Awe struck by a WS MVP? They're paying for October w/o playing in October

[waltr]

He almost didn't make it safely. what a dufuss dofoos? You get the point!

[Elktonnick]

I heard a number of media types being very skeptical of the Sandoval signing. There were ample warnings about his regular season numbers not be that exceptional. I agree that the Sox were seduced by his playoff numbers.

[waltr]

I look at ML line-ups today and recall days and night at jai-alai

[a700hitter]

The FO was seduced by "clutch" Panda.