A Realistic View at 2017 Part II

[moonslav59]

He is too tight with Mr. Henry's money. Our owner doesn't mind spending some millions of his billions.

 

I'd gladly spend all the money Henry allowed me to spend, but I'd avoid going over the $20M penalty barrier above the luxury tax.

 

I would never have signed Crawford or Pablo. I would have tried to sign Scherzer, instead of HRam, and I would not have insulted Lester with that low ball offer. With Scherzer and Lester, I don't sign Price.

 

I would not have traded for Kimbrel and Pom, but I would have sought out a Sale and Quintana/Carrasco/Salazar type trade with a mega prospect package that likely would have included Moncada, Espi, Kopech, Margot plus others. I'd have made many mistake, too many to mention, but I'd avoid the large and long contracts for the most part.

[S5Dewey]

Is there an opening?

 

I'd gladly come out of retirement as a consultant!

 

There was a guy on SOSH - IIRC he posted under the name of Eric Van - who did exactly that. This was some years ago and I don't know if he's still there but I understood that happened.

[moonslav59]

There was a guy on SOSH - IIRC he posted under the name of Eric Van - who did exactly that. This was some years ago and I don't know if he's still there but I understood that happened.

 

It would be my dream come true to work with the Sox, but my bet is there are thousands of people like me wanting the same thing. Of course, nobody is as smart as me, ha-ha.

[moonslav59]

Some of my biggest mistake suggestions:

 

I wanted Johan Santana very badly. (Not for Lester and others, but Buch, Lowrie and someone else, I can't recall.)

 

I was right about wanting to trade Middy after his big half season, but my most suggested name was Gavin Floyd.

 

I did not think we should have traded Manny.

 

I had no problem with leaving Pedro in that game.

 

I was the last poster to agree that Valentine had to go.

 

I liked the Thornburg trade.

 

You tend to forget your mistakes more than your success. I know there are many more.

 

 

 

 

[Jack Flap]

There was a guy on SOSH - IIRC he posted under the name of Eric Van - who did exactly that. This was some years ago and I don't know if he's still there but I understood that happened.

 

I know he's on the SoxProspects.com forums and still posts there from time to time.

[Maxbialystock]

Some of my biggest mistake suggestions:

 

I wanted Johan Santana very badly. (Not for Lester and others, but Buch, Lowrie and someone else, I can't recall.)

 

I was right about wanting to trade Middy after his big half season, but my most suggested name was Gavin Floyd.

 

I did not think we should have traded Manny.

 

I had no problem with leaving Pedro in that game.

 

I was the last poster to agree that Valentine had to go.

 

I liked the Thornburg trade.

 

You tend to forget your mistakes more than your success. I know there are many more.

 

 

 

 

 

I thought we "traded" Manny only because he wanted out because the Sox would not give him a ten year ARod-type contract, which would have been insane.

 

I too saw nothing wrong with Valentine and was of course wrong.

 

You do have a pretty darn good grasp of a lot of stats and use them well. Better you than Bill James, I say.

[moonslav59]

I thought we "traded" Manny only because he wanted out because the Sox would not give him a ten year ARod-type contract, which would have been insane.

 

I too saw nothing wrong with Valentine and was of course wrong.

 

You do have a pretty darn good grasp of a lot of stats and use them well. Better you than Bill James, I say.

 

I don't want to open a can of worms. The Manny trade was long ago. BTW, he wanted his 2 extension years given (accepted early)- not an A-Rod contract.

 

It was my opinion Sox management wanted him gone. They were pretty obvious about it, and of course Manny gave them a few reasons to want that- some blown up by the local media.

 

I was shocked we were able to get Jason Bay after everyone in the world knew we had to trade him once all the crap came out.

 

BTW, we got Workman in Brentz with the draft picks for losing JBay, so maybe we can still get something out of that trade!

[Kimmi]

For all the hand-wringing that took place over the winter regarding how we were going to "replace" Papi things are looking pretty good. As expected, this team's run production is down but DD's attitude appeared to be that while we couldn't replace his offense we could still win games with solid pitching and defense.

 

We're currently 4th in the AL in both ERA and WHIP and the BP is among the best in the league.

 

In addition, other than 3B our defense is as good as anyone's and better than most. We've committed 50 errors but 17 of them have been at 3B. No surprise there! While it's hard to predict how many errors a "real" 3B would make, he remaining 33 (+ a reasonable number from 3B) would still probably make us in the top 5 in baseball. (Miami is 5th with 38.)

 

And we're leading the AL East in spite of the fact that we're 3rd in the division in runs scored.

 

So... in spite of the fact that we're not scoring as many runs as last year our balance between pitching, defense, and offense is carrying the team. Maybe this DD guy knows what he's doing after all!

 

Dombrowski did a very good job of putting this year's team together.

[Kimmi]

I'm not complaining, but the skids by the Yanks and O's have really made things look better.

 

Or maybe the fact that they were playing well over their head early in the season made things look worse than they were?

[moonslav59]

Just got back from my last night out in beautiful Coyocan, Mexico. I was hoping to top the night off by looking at a winning box score.

 

Oh well.

 

 

(This was where I was married to my wonderful wife.)

[notin]

Some of my biggest mistake suggestions:

 

I wanted Johan Santana very badly. (Not for Lester and others, but Buch, Lowrie and someone else, I can't recall.)

 

I was right about wanting to trade Middy after his big half season, but my most suggested name was Gavin Floyd.

 

I did not think we should have traded Manny.

 

I had no problem with leaving Pedro in that game.

 

I was the last poster to agree that Valentine had to go.

 

I liked the Thornburg trade.

 

You tend to forget your mistakes more than your success. I know there are many more.

 

 

 

 

 

I had a pretty good run of suggesting low profile players the Sox should have looked at. The two they finally did panned out pretty well - Cody Ross and Rick Porcello. Of course plenty of others went on to abject failure on other teams.

 

 

Lately every deal I hate has been working out. And everyone I liked has flopped.

 

I guess that makes it time to start hating on Jhonny Peralta. ..

[moonslav59]

I had a pretty good run of suggesting low profile players the Sox should have looked at. The two they finally did panned out pretty well - Cody Ross and Rick Porcello. Of course plenty of others went on to abject failure on other teams.

 

 

Lately every deal I hate has been working out. And everyone I liked has flopped.

 

I guess that makes it time to start hating on Jhonny Peralta. ..

 

I suggested we sign Cody, too, way before it happened.

 

I liked the Cespedes-Porcello trade but liked the extension more.

 

I thought that went in the win column, but now I'm not so sure.

 

I hated the Masterson signing like I did the Penny-Smoltz fiasco.

 

Build the rotation from the 1 or 2 slot NOt the 4/5 slot!

 

I liked the trade for Miley.

 

I once thought Owens was under-rated.

[notin]

With Hanley a physical question mark, maybe the Sox should look into Miguel Montero once he clears waivers.

 

Certainly not as a catcher, where the Sox are solid defensively. But as a DH. Montero is a lousy catcher and apparently not much of a teammate (although, technically, he was right about Arrieta), but he can hit (112 OPS+ this year).

 

Some team is going to get him for a pro-rated league minimum salary, with the Cubs picking up the tab. Probably Tampa...

[Station 13]

With Hanley a physical question mark, maybe the Sox should look into Miguel Montero once he clears waivers.

 

Certainly not as a catcher, where the Sox are solid defensively. But as a DH. Montero is a lousy catcher and apparently not much of a teammate (although, technically, he was right about Arrieta), but he can hit (112 OPS+ this year).

 

Some team is going to get him for a pro-rated league minimum salary, with the Cubs picking up the tab. Probably Tampa...

 

Wouldn't mind. He was a guy the Sox had on their radar years back. I think the Dbags wanted Michael Bowden or Masterson in a trade.

[cp176]

How about a new thread - the pat myself on the back thread- or - hindsight history- or - I hope you forgot what I really said -

 

lol

[oldtimer]

How come no one is talking about Martin Prado of the Marlins? Boston sports reporters are on that lead. Sounds like much better than we currently have at 3rd.

[oldtimer]

How come no one is talking about Martin Prado of the Marlins? Boston sports reporters are on that lead. Sounds like much better than we currently have at 3rd.

 

Adding reference. isportsweb.com: Boston Red Sox Trade Rumors: Is Martin Prado the answer?

He is a long term infielder, 33 years old, hitting 277 with 9 HR, and is makinng $11+ million. Pro-rate that and keep him for a year.

[Kimmi]

Adding reference. isportsweb.com: Boston Red Sox Trade Rumors: Is Martin Prado the answer?

He is a long term infielder, 33 years old, hitting 277 with 9 HR, and is makinng $11+ million. Pro-rate that and keep him for a year.

 

From what I've read, Prado will take up the remaining salary that the Sox have to spend. I'm not sure they want to take that route.

[Slasher9]

B] he wanted his 2 extension years given (accepted early)- not an A-Rod contract.

 

]

 

100% false. he (and by he i mean scott boras) didnt want the extensions picked up. he just hired satan...i mean...boras as his agent. scott boras doesnt get paid if those extension years are picked up as they were negotiated by Manny's previous agent. Scott Boras needed the Sox to do a new contract or to force them to trade him to a team that would give Manny a new contract.

http://www.espn.com/espn/eticket/story?page=manny

[mvp 78]

How come no one is talking about Martin Prado of the Marlins? Boston sports reporters are on that lead. Sounds like much better than we currently have at 3rd.

 

A lot of people on here are talking about Prado. Mainly about how he costs too much and is on the wrong side of 30. He's not a guy I'd hitch my wagon to when the payroll also includes Pablo and Hanley.

[mvp 78]

http://deadspin.com/sprint-speed-helps-tell-us-whos-good-at-baserunning-and-1796424570

 

Have a look at these charts if you're still wondering if Pedroia is a good base runner or not.

[Jack Flap]

I don't know why Prado-to-the-Red-Sox rumors are even a thing...he's not that good, overpaid, and would clog up a roster spot through 2019.

 

Just find a competent rental type for third base without going crazy, or if that's not possible, call up Devers. The end.

[Kimmi]

http://deadspin.com/sprint-speed-helps-tell-us-whos-good-at-baserunning-and-1796424570

 

Have a look at these charts if you're still wondering if Pedroia is a good base runner or not.

 

His BsR is -4.9 runs. Yikes!

[Kimmi]

I don't know why Prado-to-the-Red-Sox rumors are even a thing...he's not that good, overpaid, and would clog up a roster spot through 2019.

 

Just find a competent rental type for third base without going crazy, or if that's not possible, call up Devers. The end.

 

Agreed.

 

Dombrowski said that right now his priority is getting the internal solutions on track. Doesn't sound like there's going to be any big move for a 3B. As you said, a competent rental type or Devers.

[Station 13]

His BsR is -4.9 runs. Yikes!

 

Hopefully his driving records is better.

[moonslav59]

New leader on top of the Sox OPS board:

 

100+ PAs

 

.845 JBJ

.836 Moreland

.834 Betts

.823 Bogey

 

.776 Beni

.762 HRam

.738 Pedey

.730 Young

.720 Vaz

 

.695 Leon

.622 Pablo

 

.558 Rutledge

.521 Marrero

 

[moonslav59]

New leader on top of the Sox OPS board:

 

100+ PAs

 

.845 JBJ

.836 Moreland

.834 Betts

.823 Bogey

 

.776 Beni

.762 HRam

.738 Pedey

.730 Young

.720 Vaz

 

.695 Leon

.622 Pablo

 

.558 Rutledge

.521 Marrero

 

 

Nice to have 9 guys over .720.

Too bad none play 3B.

 

No players over .845 is shocking for a Sox team near the luxury spending limit.

Too shocking to believe, but there's still time for one or two to get over .900.

 

The bottom three all play 3B.

Just a good fielding/.720 rental would be a huge upgrade for our weakest link.

[oldtimer]

Nice to have 9 guys over .720.

Too bad none play 3B.

 

No players over .845 is shocking for a Sox team near the luxury spending limit.

Too shocking to believe, but there's still time for one or two to get over .900.

 

The bottom three all play 3B.

Just a good fielding/.720 rental would be a huge upgrade for our weakest link.

 

I know it is too early to codify him, but is Lin going to take Marerro's place. He is diminutive, but fields well, runs well and can defend multiple positions. He looks like a better hitter as well but only time will tell. We still need a 3rd baseman and the Sox seem unwilling to bring up Devers so we have to wonder going into the trade deadline. If Devers becomes the guy, we can trade for additional pitching help in the bullpen.

[mvp 78]

Marrero has a track record of being unable to hit. Lin needs to be given an honest shot.

[Spudboy]

Marrero has a track record of being unable to hit. Lin needs to be given an honest shot.

 

Yup.

 

While I very much value the D that Merrero brings to 3rd Lin may be able to hit and play decent D.