DirtDog

looks like Jay Z called Yankees bluff... in my opnion the west is wide open. if Ms trade some prospects for David Price they could be quite formidable. Felix/Price/Iwakuma is right up there with Verland/Scherzer/Sanchez imo

I'd rather have Daniel Nava than Andre Eithier. That felt weird yet oh so satisfying to say.

Rays already extending Hannigan... damn

My online sarcasm detector malfunctions from time to time.

Seems like a domino effect. Like the deal for the Reds, Holmberg is a solid prospect. Don't really understand Bell going to the Rays too. Hasn't performed well at all and is owed money. I guess that sunk cost will go towards Hannigan.

It's rightly adjusted per position because as much as it's nice to have a good defensive first basemen, it's not as essential as it is up the middle or at third

some revisionist history here. ortiz was joking around about that RBI. Why the ortiz hate out of nowhere too?

Agreed, but Ross has not. They are also both at the age where most catchers fall off a cliff. He could very well stay healthy given his track record, but the odds are against both of them.

We seemed to be quite okay last year. "Lousy" is a stretch. below average i would say. I'm beginning to learn we don't agree much!

he had 9 walks and recorded one out in winter ball. that is absurd. i know for a fact I could do better and I never pitched past high school.

Kind of crazy how in 2 years one guy can be an elite player at his position and then suddenly be pretty much out of baseball due to diminished skills

Sox apparently value their prospects. In retrospect we should have offered salty a QO

we have two 36 year old catchers. one of them will break down. i bet Vazquez will be up soon. you guys this is actually good news.

1, he's not a free agent 2, the Red Sox can afford to pay someone high AAV on a two/three year deal. It's the commitment and blocking of young players that seems to concern the FO.

Pierzynski is a solid stopgap option talent wise, but... We also just became the most hated team in the league if this is true

What do you guys think about signing Grady Sizemore to a minor league deal with invite to spring training? Fills a need as a good 5th OF/25th man next year. I assume in the market he'd have to take a bench role, but question is will anyone else give him a major league deal?

Uhhh... If we can't give 3 years to Salty after a career year I doubt we will lock up Hanigan for 3 years after a bad one

I disagree. Fowler is the better player, but with service time being 6 years vs 1 year, you don't do the trade, unless more is coming back to the Sox.

he's not in the position of making ridiculous demands after missing all of 2013... he'll go where the money is

Two things: 1 Do you know how many top 100 prospects are flops? So many. Mookie Betts is pretty far from the major leagues right now. 2 Defense at first base is WAYYYY overrated. Having a sure handed SS or 2B is 5x more important. The consensus in this thread seems to be "trade our crap for ryan hanigan, sign corey hart to a 1 year/6MM deal and pick up drew stubbs as 4th OF" The Red Sox have MONEY to spend. Not all the prospects work out, eventually you need to pony up and overpay a proven veteran at a position or two (look at what the cardinals did with Peralta). There is much more risk in production in going to the younger, cheaper option EVERY TIME there is a need. While I'm not betting my house on a bigger name walking through that door this offseason, eventually the Red Sox have to make a real move somewhere.

Wasn't that hard, directly copied from baseball reference... hahah

Speaking of that Houston game, is it safe to say moving forward that the Steven Wright era in Boston is over?

I think Lavarnway has a shot to be a solid major leaguer if that bat can come around in a serious way, which I think it can. In limited ABs he quietly hit [TABLE=class: sortable stats_table row_summable] [TR=class: full hl, bgcolor: #FFFFAA !important] [TD=align: right].299[/TD] [TD=align: right].329[/TD] [TD=align: right].429[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] with a positive WAR last year. I don't think he has a future here but I still like him. He is obviously below average defensively but I think it's a bit overblown. That game in Houston was a complete albatross and I think you have to throw it out.

I say you go with what you know and what works. Salty was solid here and made strides every year here on both offense and defense and won a world series here. Even an above average catcher like that is hard to find. He's also really settled in working with this pitching staff. I'd pay him even 3/40 if that's what it takes to get it done. The Red Sox CAN afford that. In 2015 or 2016 you can AFFORD to eat that final year and/or trade him. Vazquez and Swihart look like solid prospects but neither really projects to a higher ceiling than Salty (although I would say Vasquez does look like a far better defensive player than Salty will ever be. There is always the chance that both of them can flop. Neither has yet to prove they can hit MLB pitching yet. Remember at the end of 2011 we were all ready to anoint Lavarnway to basically replace Varitek and eventually ORTIZ... lol? Injuries happen and I wouldn't be surprised to see some games at catcher open up this year for any of the prospects. I mean, how long was Ross out with a concussion last year?

Yes, for a guy who can get on the field and play.