And the off season begins (2018-19)

[notin]

Right - and Wainwright was also 37 and went right back on the shelf after he tried to come back last year. Eovaldi has some actual performance behind him and is 8 years younger, and developed a pitch to change his career.

 

Jarrod Parker was another who had multiple TJS and never got any attention...

[notin]

I don't know if Buchholz would be eager to pitch in AAA if someone offered a better deal.

 

 

Definitely not. But he needs that better deal first...

[sk7326]

Jarrod Parker was another who had multiple TJS and never got any attention...

 

Right - he had 3! And the third one rather quickly followed the second.

 

Eovaldi's second came back with a full season of performance and (frankly) better stuff

[Kimmi]

IMO, other options provide better chances of contribution, but I'm fine wil as many minor league deals we can get, as long as they don't retard the growth of legitimate prospects.

 

There are probably better options in terms of pitchers who can stay healthy, I doubt that there are better options in terms of talent and pure stuff who will potentially take a minor league contract.

 

I guess the question is, would you rather have another #7, 8 type pitcher who is more likely to stay healthy or a potential #1, 2 type pitcher who carries concerns about staying healthy? I'll go with the latter.

[Kimmi]

I don't know if Buchholz would be eager to pitch in AAA if someone offered a better deal.

 

I'm sure that if he's offered a major league deal, he'd take it over a minor league one. OTOH, if he's given a mid June opt out he might be willing to give it a whirl with the Sox for the chance at another ring. All that said, I'm not sure that Buchholz would be eager to rejoin the Red Sox even if they did offer him a big league contract.

[notin]

Right - he had 3! And the third one rather quickly followed the second.

 

Eovaldi's second came back with a full season of performance and (frankly) better stuff

 

 

Do you need me to go through sa list of pitchers with multiple TJ surgeries? Or shall we just call it no risk since obviously finding an exact match with ages is going to be difficult.

 

But then as there is so little risk with TJ surgeries, that means Eovaldi will be very tough to sign as he will get lots of attention and big offers.

 

Since the Sox also lost their two most important relief pitchers, should Eovaldi be the priority?

[Slasher9]

I would rather have clay at 1 year $5mm then Evo at 3 or 4 years x 13mm

[jacksonianmarch]

Eovaldi is on the Yanks radar as well. I am gonna call BS on that, but either way, it is very possible Eovaldi becomes too expensive for the high salaried sox

[Dojji]

Eovaldi is on the Yanks radar as well. I am gonna call BS on that, but either way, it is very possible Eovaldi becomes too expensive for the high salaried sox

 

Personally I think Eovaldi is going to sign with one of the mid tier franchises like the Phillies or the Nationals for more money than either of the big Eastern teams are willing to pay.

 

Personally, I don't actually want him. I look at his track record and I see Clay Buchholz with a slightly better fastball. He had a good run with us, but the history suggests that expecting it to continue would be foolish. I'd rather spend Eovaldi's money on a somewhat more dependable option such as Dallas Keuchel. But I personally expect we sign exactly zero free agent starters and that the plan at the moment is to break camp with Sale, Price, Porky, E-Rod, Wright if he's healthy, Johnson if he isn't. You could go to war with that rotation and expect to win any division in baseball.

[moonslav59]

Personally, I'm guessing we want to avoid any big deals longer than 2 years, so that would mean no Eovaldi, Kimbrel and probably Kelly.

 

We may go Morton, Cody Allen for 2 and maybe Miller takes a 1 year deal looking to up his value.

[Bellhorn04]

Personally I think you guys are wrong and that we do sign Eovaldi.

[notin]

Personally I think you guys are wrong and that we do sign Eovaldi.

 

Very possible.

 

The problem is the Sox need Kimbrel more than Eovaldi in 2019 but need Eovaldi more than Kimbrel in 2020...

[notin]

Personally, I'm guessing we want to avoid any big deals longer than 2 years, so that would mean no Eovaldi, Kimbrel and probably Kelly.

 

We may go Morton, Cody Allen for 2 and maybe Miller takes a 1 year deal looking to up his value.

 

Miller turns 34 next year and might realize getting a better deal at age 35 isn’t such an easy task...

[notin]

Right - he had 3! And the third one rather quickly followed the second.

 

Eovaldi's second came back with a full season of performance and (frankly) better stuff

 

https://www.tampabay.com/blogs/rays/2018/03/04/returning-from-second-tj-surgery-would-be-one-impressive-feat-for-eovaldi/

 

 

Check out the list of names at the bottom....

[Slasher9]

Personally I think you guys are wrong and that we do sign Eovaldi.

 

but i want clay

[Dojji]

Personally I think you guys are wrong and that we do sign Eovaldi.

 

I really doubt it. Mostly because I think that the Sox FO realizes he played way over his head for us.

 

Sign Eovaldi to close, I'm 100% down for that, I think he'd be one hell of a closer. But he's shown time and time and time again that he is neither consistent enough nor durable enough to stand the test of time as a full time starting pitcher.

[Bellhorn04]

but i want clay

 

I do as well.

[Bellhorn04]

I really doubt it. Mostly because I think that the Sox FO realizes he played way over his head for us.

 

Sign Eovaldi to close, I'm 100% down for that, I think he'd be one hell of a closer. But he's shown time and time and time again that he is neither consistent enough nor durable enough to stand the test of time as a full time starting pitcher.

 

Well, he's only 28, and obviously he's been derailed by injury at least as much as inconsistency.

[Dojji]

Now with that said I would absolutely love it if we signed Eovaldi in order to Papelbon him. He's an absolutely perfect candidate to convert into a closer, if he's willing to try it. I don't think anyone in this forum wouldn't be willing to see the Sox try a move like that. Stretch him out in camp in order to stay adaptable, but I have to think that Eovaldi would make an absolutely magnificent closer. And he'd probably make more money than his current track record as a 3-4 level starter would afford him.

[Dojji]

Well, he's only 28, and obviously he's been derailed by injury at least as much as inconsistency.

 

You have to look at and assess the risk of injury when evaluating any signing. A guy who can't stay healthy is even more useless than a guy who sucks in some ways.

 

Anyway, it's his injury track record that makes me think that converting him to relief would help him. He was an absolute monster out of the pen in the playoffs this year, and if we went to war with him as our closer I honestly think he'd earn his money and we'd have a dominant back end.

[notin]

Well, he's only 28, and obviously he's been derailed by injury at least as much as inconsistency.

 

But at what point before the Sox commit $60mill to retain him do they look at Eovaldi and think “his career really hasn’t been that great to date.” Do you think similar careers like Kevin Gausman or Dillon Gee or Brian Lawrence ever merited this type of deal?

[Dojji]

But at what point before the Sox commit $60mill to retain him do they look at Eovaldi and think “his career really hasn’t been that great to date.” Do you think similar careers like Kevin Gausman or Dillon Gee or Brian Lawrence ever merited this type of deal?

 

Agreed. Right now Eovaldi's value is inflated due to his lights out postseason. I don't think the team that signs him as a starter for big money is going to be happy with the results.

[Bellhorn04]

$60 million for a starter is not really 'big money' any more. It's medium money at most.

[Bellhorn04]

Eovaldi's regular season fWAR this year was 2.2, BTW. It's not like he was bad during the season and only good in the postseason.

[Slasher9]

But at what point before the Sox commit $60mill to retain him do they look at Eovaldi and think “his career really hasn’t been that great to date.” Do you think similar careers like Kevin Gausman or Dillon Gee or Brian Lawrence ever merited this type of deal?

 

i mean he did pitch 6 innings of an 18 inning WS game so surely he is worth $60MM/4 years. who cares that it destroys our ability to reset the LT he was the hero of a WS Loss!

[Slasher9]

$60 million for a starter is not really 'big money' any more. It's medium money at most.

 

well...this is true too. hard to argue. i just dont think we are in the position to spend this money right now. i think we have to live what we have on the roster for SP other than picking up some very very low $ single year contracts. AKA dumpster dives.

[notin]

$60 million for a starter is not really 'big money' any more. It's medium money at most.

 

It’s pretty big money for a starter who has averaged less than 80 IP for the last 3 years...

[Slasher9]

It’s pretty big money for a starter who has averaged less than 80 IP for the last 3 years...

 

but the Doctor that performed his latest TJ surgery has stated that his arm is perfectly healthy. shouldn't we just believe the Doctor that performed the surgery? surely he wouldn't bend the truth or offer alternative Facts about the results of a procedure that he performed?!?

[notin]

but the Doctor that performed his latest TJ surgery has stated that his arm is perfectly healthy. shouldn't we just believe the Doctor that performed the surgery? surely he wouldn't bend the truth or offer alternative Facts about the results of a procedure that he performed?!?

 

Even if the Sox do believe, how does Eovaldi getting a clean bill of health differ from every other pitcher ever to have TJ surgery and then resume pitching? Has there ever been a doctor ever who said “he can return to pitching now, as long as he learn to throw left-handed”?

 

So far, the most successful starting pitcher after two TJs appears to be Chris Capuano, who was hardly the same after as he was before. It’s a small list, and maybe Eovaldi is the first guy to completely put it all behind him. Maybe the procedure is better now. But then, maybe not. And history is not something that works in Eovaldi’s favor here...

[moonslav59]

Miller turns 34 next year and might realize getting a better deal at age 35 isn’t such an easy task...

 

I realize that. It is not likely we sign him, unless nobody offers him 3+ years, and even then...