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Or if he will be traded. With Scutaro under contract and Iglesias a year away and on a MLB contract, Lowrie has to be a valuable trading piece. If he's still around he should be starting, IMO

All of this chatter tells me the Sox are taking this opportunity very seriously and want Upton pretty badly. Involving other teams, discussing late into the night, etc., makes me think this is closer than we might otherwise think.

Most people here--especially non-Sox fans here--will think that package is much too low, but I actually worry it could be too high. That might be the right combination for Arizona. If Lowrie and Kalish become good regular MLB players and Doubront is servicable they will have "won" the deal. A team like Arizona will benefit from getting a core of players to put on the field. A team like Boston is in search of another consistently 4-6 WAR player who only takes up one roster spot. They need as many of those guys filling their regular positions as possible.

I don't see why this would be the case. If they move Ellsbury in the deal then I still see a way for them to go after Werth or Crawford. Or they can use resources to get Beltre or Martinez. I see this as supplementing their previous off season plans, not replacing them. BTW, do you give no weight to his age at all? I mean all the "only .800+ OPS" stuff has to be taken with a realization that he's doing this before most players are at AAA.

Most people are approaching a potential Upton trade from the perspective of what it would take to land a near-HOF caliber OF before his prime has started. I don't know enough about Upton to know if he is that, but from all I've seen he's as close as almost any player in baseball. It comes down to how highly the Sox evaluate his abilities, nothing more. If they think he's on par with a 22 year old Ken Griffey Jr., or Willie Mays what would you be willing to pay then? The question is whether he's the next one of those guys (possible) or whether he's a glorified Carl Crawford, Torii Hunter or BJ Upton (more possible). If he's the later (again, not my call to make) he's not worth the packages of prospects we're talking about. If he's the next yearly MVP candidate and a possible HOF then this team would be foolish not to open the vault for him. They will be able to build around him sufficiently even if they lose Bard etc., over the next 4-5 years. I'm glad it isn't my call.

This is a guy with 60 HR before Curtis Granderson ever stepped on the field. Granderson came up at 23, Upton will be 23 next season. An investment in Upton would be an investment in the pre-prime and prime years of one of the best natural talents to come on the scene in the past decade. That said, I agree that it is absurd to talk about moving Buchholz. That's just stupid. Bard is a bit more reasonable, but I don't think the Sox can afford to move him. Ellsbury might make sense. I think finding a way to land Upton would dramatically change the core of this team for the better.

Theo has said the pen underperformed horribly. Everyone acknowledges it. Sounds like accountability to me. What would you propose to be sure that the team will never have a bad bullpen again?

Purely a depth move. They are going after known underachievers. I'm not against it, compared to the other usual move at this time of year: picking up unknown cheap available minor league players. Both are pure depth moves, but the Sox are going after guys in Miller and Buchholz who were once considered decent MLB prospects. Maybe a correction here or there could make them more than simply replacement level, which is all they are intended to be anyway. At some point in the depth chart every team runs into crap-shots. With Bucholz and Miller we have reached that level.

A brief search for Curt Young info brought up this interview from BP (2007). http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6884 There's a lot of interesting things there. As someone who loves pitching, and the nuances of the craft, he seems to speak it very plainly and clearly. I don't have any idea about John Ferrell's views, but I like what Young says and how consisely he says it. The best pitchers are those who master the off-speed fastball. I think about Pedro in his prime, Greg Maddux, Johan Santana, Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum making people look foolish with a well timed off-speed FB over the heart of the plate. I think that's a natural next step for both Lester and Buchholz in particular. It is something Matsuzaka seems to do quite effectively.

Fairly weak link--no offense to you personally. I would believe the Phillies are interested in keeping him, but I'd be surprised if their evaluation of Jayson Werth has changed in the past week or so. I've always thought he should be a natural fit to stay in Philly and didn't understand the assumption that he was leaving. I just think that testing FA is usually too tempting to pass up.

The speed is more than just a little important in the OF, where he is easily one of the best LFs in the game. Crawford is a dangerous threat on both sides of the ball. My only hold ups for him are: 1) Not sure where he fits in this lineup (3rd?), especially because of the benefits of the L, R, L, R preference. 2) He will cost a lot 3) He seems vulnerable against good LH pitching. (.256/.696 v. LHP; .332/.930 v. RHP). We would prefer him to hit well against RHPs (which he does) but in the AL East there are some really good lefties who the Sox will need to beat. I don't much care if he's a "superstar", that role may be limited to 5-10 players at any one time and he's not the most famous/impressive player. He's still very, very good. I agree with others who see him signing in Anaheim. I think the Sox should be able to outbid just about anyone but the Yankees if they really want someone. I would be surprised to see them pay Crawford more than $17m a year, but I think it'll take at least $18.5 to get him.

Why does them charging a lot of money (which is an optional expenditure, I might remind you) mean they have to spend money stupidly if that's the only way it can be spent? It doesn't make sense. If the right deal for the ball club is there, they should make it/take it. If it isn't they shouldn't spend just to placate the "but the tickets are so expensive!" crowd. Is going balls to the wall to get Carl Crawford (say, spending $5-6m year more than he is worth) worth more to you as a fan than if they signed the next 6-7 Anthony Ranaudo's that come out of college or high school?

There's really no point in giving up on this kid. His stuff and frame are too good and his cost (Dustin Richardson) is too low. He's a schlub, but at least he's a schlub that many have heard of due to his high overall draft pick, his size and the prominant spot he held in the college ranks (ace pitcher on a college WS team).

This guy was the 6th overall pick in 2006 and was one of the best college pitchers in the country. He was the ace on the UNC team that included Daniel Bard, and Miller was far and away the better talent at the time. Worst case scenario he remains mediocre; best case scenario they have a 26 year old who has the stuff to be an ace. It is unlikely he amounts to much, but they didn't give up too much for him and he's SP depth.

I think VMart is gone anyway. I envision an offseason similar to last year, with some bargain pickups and maybe a good signing or two. Unlike a700 I would be fine with Werth, but like a700 I would be pretty excited by adding Crawford, and part of me thiks that they are going to go "all out" to get him. With their movemet toward speed and defense Crawford makes a ton of sense. An OF of Crawford, Ellsbury and Kalish from 2012 moving forward would cover a lot of ground and be dangerous at the plate and on the basepaths.

Stop with the drama. The Yankees are going to do what they did with CC. Even though he didn't want to play in NY, they made sure he ended up there. Lee will probably be the same way. My only hope is that the Yankees need to overextend and that he comes back to Earth.

I'm not. Donkey is better.

Agreed. Adding Beltre and Werth feels like a solid pairing on both sides of the ball for the next few years. What do you think about the RH vs LH batting needs of this team? Does it matter? Would "handedness" change the value of the player for this particular team? I just don't know... If it does matter, then that problem could be fixed by replacing Werth with Crawford, or Beltre with Dunn. If they would benefit from two LH hitters more then Crawford and Dunn could be a possibility. Overall I like Werth's fit for the Red Sox more than Crawford's, but I wouldn't be upset if they found a way to put Crawford's production into the lineup somehow. He's an exciting player and would be an amazing tandem with Ellsbury on the bases.

I would actually be comfortable with a combo of Olivo and Salty or Buck and Salty, if this team wanted to go an entirely new direction. There are a few in-house options who could appear in the next 3 years... or not. If they do, then one of Buck/Salty can be pushed aside. If not then they would have some time to sort it out. All of this is assuming that they use the money they could have used on Martinez to get someone else I approve of.