Sox sign Eovaldi

[jacksonianmarch]

They could also go for depth by signing two from Happ, A Sanchez or Morton plus one or two from Britton, Ottavino or Familia, it might work out better.

 

Trade Gray for a useful piece.

 

We will trade Gray, but I can almost exclusively guarantee that we will deal him for guys far off from the bigs. Cashman is the king of dealing for value and getting guys lower down in the farm that end up doing something for the big league squad. My guess is Gray goes to Milwaukee for one prospect we heard of and 2 guys with insane stuff or raw skills in short season who are too far below the radar to be anything but a lottery ticket. Cashman has seemed to turn those guys into something, though.

 

Also, one must remember that we have reinforcements coming after the ASB. Jordan Montgomery was really good for us in 2017 and started out on fire in 2018 before undergoing TJS in May. At the very least we have a big league caliber starter waiting to come back while we have Loaisiga and Adams in AAA with Cessa and German on the big league roster capable of filling in. I see no reason to go past 5 spots in the big league rotation with guaranteed outlay.

 

With this method, though, this frees up a lot of guaranteed money going forward for one of Harper or Machado. While I think Machado makes the most sense positionally, I would like to see what Harper could do in our lineup in our stadium.

[Nick]

We will trade Gray, but I can almost exclusively guarantee that we will deal him for guys far off from the bigs. Cashman is the king of dealing for value and getting guys lower down in the farm that end up doing something for the big league squad. My guess is Gray goes to Milwaukee for one prospect we heard of and 2 guys with insane stuff or raw skills in short season who are too far below the radar to be anything but a lottery ticket. Cashman has seemed to turn those guys into something, though.

 

Also, one must remember that we have reinforcements coming after the ASB. Jordan Montgomery was really good for us in 2017 and started out on fire in 2018 before undergoing TJS in May. At the very least we have a big league caliber starter waiting to come back while we have Loaisiga and Adams in AAA with Cessa and German on the big league roster capable of filling in. I see no reason to go past 5 spots in the big league rotation with guaranteed outlay.

 

With this method, though, this frees up a lot of guaranteed money going forward for one of Harper or Machado. While I think Machado makes the most sense positionally, I would like to see what Harper could do in our lineup in our stadium.

 

Winning the Division won't be easy but having Eovaldi certainly made our chances better. We don't have to take back seat to anyone. Not saying we'll win but we will be very formidable. Health is the key. Dustin back 100%. E Rod staying healthy all year. Sale returning to form all year. Eovaldi piching the way he did in October. Full year of Pearce. Steady improvement from Devers. Sox have the horses. It's now up to the players.

[notin]

I have my doubts you get a prospect you heard of for Gray...

[bkzwhitestrican]

Winning the Division won't be easy but having Eovaldi certainly made our chances better. We don't have to take back seat to anyone. Not saying we'll win but we will be very formidable. Health is the key. Dustin back 100%. E Rod staying healthy all year. Sale returning to form all year. Eovaldi piching the way he did in October. Full year of Pearce. Steady improvement from Devers. Sox have the horses. It's now up to the players.

 

I'm curious if most people here still have an expectation of Pedroia coming back and being productive? I thought he was on the verge of retirement after last season.

[Bellhorn04]

I'm curious if most people here still have an expectation for Pedroia to come back and be productive? I thought he was on the verge of retirement after last season.

 

No, we've been hearing the opposite, that he feels great. We can only speculate, but there seems to be reason for some optimism.

[jung]

Very happy with this deal. Some TJ's turn out super. Some not so much. This one has looked to be positively bionic. A risk well worth taking IMO.

[Dojji]

Eh. Lukewarm to this move. I've already said this a few times, but I'm not by any means convinced Eovaldi is going to repeat the performance he gave in the second half of last year. This reminds me very much of Mike Lowell's last contract, where a guy's being rewarded mostly on his most recent accomplishments rather than measuring the whole of his body of work.

[Dojji]

Ottavino has a better season than Kimbrel in a harder place to pitch. The prediction on him was 3 yrs $33 mil.

 

If you can get Ottavino for 3 years 11m you do it yesterday. I doubt it's that little. If it was that little, it would already be done.

[Jasonbay44]

I'm happy for Eovaldi getting paid. I was a big fan of trading for him and his playoff run was legendary. I didnt necessarily want 4 years, but whatever. Hopefully he pitches like he did last year.

[Bellhorn04]

Eh. Lukewarm to this move. I've already said this a few times, but I'm not by any means convinced Eovaldi is going to repeat the performance he gave in the second half of last year. This reminds me very much of Mike Lowell's last contract, where a guy's being rewarded mostly on his most recent accomplishments rather than measuring the whole of his body of work.

 

I will give you that there are some parallels with the recency effect. But Eovaldi will be younger at the end of this deal than Lowell was at the start of his deal. There's a lot of health risk with Eovaldi, no one's going to deny that. Just have to trust that the brass knows what they're doing.

[sk7326]

Winning the Division won't be easy but having Eovaldi certainly made our chances better. We don't have to take back seat to anyone. Not saying we'll win but we will be very formidable. Health is the key. Dustin back 100%. E Rod staying healthy all year. Sale returning to form all year. Eovaldi piching the way he did in October. Full year of Pearce. Steady improvement from Devers. Sox have the horses. It's now up to the players.

 

Let's put it this way - we could be exactly as good as we were this past year and win 10 fewer games. Last year was special - no need to pretend otherwise.

 

Getting Eovaldi helps relieve the pressure of having to source another starter. The interesting question is whether to bring Pomeranz back ... which I'm still interested if it can be a short hitch. As far as the bullpen goes I laugh in the face of any pitcher who demands more than 3 years.

[Kimmi]

Personally I love it. Not just for the player but for this team's continued commitment to spend and put strong teams on the field.

 

I am very happy to have Eovaldi back. I'll leave it at that.

 

But yes, I am thankful that we have Henry as our owner.

[Larry Cook]

Desperate Dave said he wanted to bring back everyone and he is trying his best to do just that.

 

I give him huge props!

[notin]

Desperate Dave said he wanted to bring back everyone and he is trying his best to do just that.

 

I give him huge props!

 

So.... Kimbrel and Kelly are next?

[FredLynn]

Signing this guy is a good move for the Red Sox. He certainly proved himself to be a quality pitcher last season as the Sox would not be WS champs without him..

 

Every free agent is a gamble with possible health and performance issues, but this looks to be a good signing.

 

For his career he has proven himself to be a mediocre pitcher. That said, maybe he has turned the corner.

[Sox75]

An automatic WSC contender with this SR hand.

Two aces!

Two strong Kings

One Jack@$$ but I still love him

One Queen, as rumor has it? Not that there is anything wrong with that!

[jacksonianmarch]

Merloni was on point yesterday. He said going into the playoffs, the question was ERod or Eovaldi to start in the ALDS. It came down to matchup. If the A’s beat the Yanks, Eovaldi goes to the pen and his worth never skyrockets. The guy who finished the 2018 regular season in Boston averaged less than 5IP per appearance. Then he goes on a 4 week tear and is your best pitcher as a Swiss Army knife over that time. His timing was impeccable. But does the overall package warrant the contract?

[Bellhorn04]

Here are Eovaldi's total numbers for the regular season and postseason combined:

 

IP 133.1

ERA 3.44

WHIP 1.076

K/BB 5.09

 

These numbers are vastly superior to what went before 2018. The guy was simply a much better pitcher.

[notin]

Here are Eovaldi's total numbers for the regular season and postseason combined:

 

IP 133.1

ERA 3.44

WHIP 1.076

K/BB 5.09

 

These numbers are vastly superior to what went before 2018. The guy was simply a much better pitcher.

 

 

Maybe, but for once, I actually agree with Dojii. I think Keuchel or Kimbrel made more sense for that contract...

[Bellhorn04]

Maybe, but for once, I actually agree with Dojii. I think Keuchel or Kimbrel made more sense for that contract...

 

I'm surprised you would say Kimbrel.

[notin]

I'm surprised you would say Kimbrel.

 

Me too. But for a crazy expensive roster-altering deal, I think I take the 31yo 70IP pitcher with no history of arm trouble and a fastbtrack to Cooperstown ever over a 29yo possible flash in the pan with 2 TJs bookending a mid-rotation career...

[Bellhorn04]

Kimbrel, of course, is supposedly looking for 6 years.

 

There's a lot to play out, but based on what Corbin got, the pricing of free agent pitching may be rather inflated this offseason.

[cp176]

Maybe, but for once, I actually agree with Dojii. I think Keuchel or Kimbrel made more sense for that contract...

 

Keuchel for the same money and number of years would make some sense but not for what he is looking for. That would still be a tough one for me I think though. I like the right hander to go with the lefties that we have. We still have to get past the Yankees. I love what Kimbrel has given us but his asking price in terms of years and money don't make much sense. Hey we will wait and see what JH's ultimate decision will be. I get the fact that it is a hypothetical question because we all know that it is likely that there is no way that either Keuchel or Kimbrel would have taken the Eovaldi deal.

[Bellhorn04]

Me too. But for a crazy expensive roster-altering deal, I think I take the 31yo 70IP pitcher with no history of arm trouble and a fastbtrack to Cooperstown ever over a 29yo possible flash in the pan with 2 TJs bookending a mid-rotation career...

 

You're not putting much stock into the improvements in Eovaldi's numbers and the opinions that he's much better because of adding the cutter to his repertoire.

[SoxnCycles]

I am very happy to have Eovaldi back. I'll leave it at that.

 

But yes, I am thankful that we have Henry as our owner.

 

Yup, it will all depend on how his arm holds up over the next 4 years.

If he can start 80 to 100 games, it'll be worth it.

[notin]

Yup, it will all depend on how his arm holds up over the next 4 years.

If he can start 80 to 100 games, it'll be worth it.

 

20 to 25 games per year? That means you’re expecting 1-2 months of missed starts per season.. That’s up to 1 and 1/3 seasons worth of missed starts over the life of the contract.

 

I assume you also have some expectations about how he actually pitches?

[Dojji]

For his career he has proven himself to be a mediocre pitcher. That said, maybe he has turned the corner.

 

We officially have to hope so now.

[Dojji]

Merloni was on point yesterday. He said going into the playoffs, the question was ERod or Eovaldi to start in the ALDS. It came down to matchup. If the A’s beat the Yanks, Eovaldi goes to the pen and his worth never skyrockets. The guy who finished the 2018 regular season in Boston averaged less than 5IP per appearance. Then he goes on a 4 week tear and is your best pitcher as a Swiss Army knife over that time. His timing was impeccable. But does the overall package warrant the contract?

 

Considering how lethal Eovaldi was out of the pen, I'm going to second guess that part of your statement.

 

I know it's not going to happen, but I still think Eovaldi would make one heck of a closer.

[Bellhorn04]

Considering how lethal Eovaldi was out of the pen, I'm going to second guess that part of your statement.

 

I know it's not going to happen, but I still think Eovaldi would make one heck of a closer.

 

It's certainly not inconceivable that he does become the closer at some point.

[SoxnCycles]

20 to 25 games per year? That means you’re expecting 1-2 months of missed starts per season.. That’s up to 1 and 1/3 seasons worth of missed starts over the life of the contract.

 

I assume you also have some expectations about how he actually pitches?

 

No, I don't expect him to be healthy enough to pitch 4 full seasons.

I expect him to be a 3-4 type of starter, over the long haul, a 4.00+ ERA.