a700hitter

He just needs to be better than Kendrick and Velazquez.

The FA market exploded at the time we got Kimbrel and his salary is below market for where he is in the pecking order for closers. [TABLE="class: datatable noborder tablesorter tablesorter-default, width: 728"] [TR] [TD="class: rank col-xs-1 col-md-1 center noborderright, align: center"]1[/TD] [TD="class: rank-logo col-xs-1 col-md-1 center noborderright, align: center"][/TD] [TD="class: rank-name col-xs-6 col-md-6 player noborderright"][b][url="http://www.spotrac.com/redirect/player/6462/"]Aroldis Chapman[/url][/b] [font=Helvetica]RELIEF PITCHER[/font][/TD] [TD="class: rank-value col-xs-4 col-md-4 separator-right right noborderright, align: right"]$17,200,000[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="class: rank col-xs-1 col-md-1 center noborderright, align: center"]2[/TD] [TD="class: rank-logo col-xs-1 col-md-1 center noborderright, align: center"][/TD] [TD="class: rank-name col-xs-6 col-md-6 player noborderright"][b][url="http://www.spotrac.com/redirect/player/7635/"]Kenley Jansen[/url][/b] [font=Helvetica]RELIEF PITCHER[/font][/TD] [TD="class: rank-value col-xs-4 col-md-4 separator-right right noborderright, align: right"]$16,000,000[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="class: rank col-xs-1 col-md-1 center noborderright, align: center"]3[/TD] [TD="class: rank-logo col-xs-1 col-md-1 center noborderright, align: center"][/TD] [TD="class: rank-name col-xs-6 col-md-6 player noborderright"][b][url="http://www.spotrac.com/redirect/player/7335/"]Mark Melancon[/url][/b] [font=Helvetica]RELIEF PITCHER[/font][/TD] [TD="class: rank-value col-xs-4 col-md-4 separator-right right noborderright, align: right"]$15,500,000[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="class: rank col-xs-1 col-md-1 center noborderright, align: center"]4[/TD] [TD="class: rank-logo col-xs-1 col-md-1 center noborderright, align: center"][/TD] [TD="class: rank-name col-xs-6 col-md-6 player noborderright"][b][url="http://www.spotrac.com/redirect/player/7466/"]David Robertson[/url][/b] [font=Helvetica]RELIEF PITCHER[/font][/TD] [TD="class: rank-value col-xs-4 col-md-4 separator-right right noborderright, align: right"]$11,500,000[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="class: rank col-xs-1 col-md-1 center noborderright, align: center"]5[/TD] [TD="class: rank-logo col-xs-1 col-md-1 center noborderright, align: center"][/TD] [TD="class: rank-name col-xs-6 col-md-6 player noborderright"][b][url="http://www.spotrac.com/redirect/player/8437/"]Zach Britton[/url][/b] [font=Helvetica]RELIEF PITCHER[/font][/TD] [TD="class: rank-value col-xs-4 col-md-4 separator-right right noborderright option-10-day-disabled-list, align: right"]$11,400,000[font=&amp] [center][color=#FFFFFF]10 Day Disabled List[/color][/center] [/font][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="class: rank col-xs-1 col-md-1 center noborderright, align: center"]6[/TD] [TD="class: rank-logo col-xs-1 col-md-1 center noborderright, align: center"][/TD] [TD="class: rank-name col-xs-6 col-md-6 player noborderright"][b][url="http://www.spotrac.com/redirect/player/7233/"]Craig Kimbrel[/url][/b] [font=Helvetica]RELIEF PITCHER[/font][/TD] [TD="class: rank-value col-xs-4 col-md-4 separator-right right noborderright, align: right"]$10,500,000[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

Still very cheap, even when precise.

7:10 pm EDT Game Time It is a FOX game so we will have to suffer through National broadcasters. [TABLE=class: probable-pitchers, width: 335] [TR] [TH=class: label, colspan: 2, align: left]PROBABLE PITCHERS[/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD]J. Ramirez LAA6-5, 4.59 ERA, 1.33 WHIP[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [TD]D. Price BOS2-1, 5.14 ERA, 1.39 WHIP[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Will the Price finally be Right?

Hopefully, he can build on this. He is still giving up too many hits and base runners. Tonight he kept the ball in the park.

During the game, Remy and OB were going on about how important Pedroia has been to the organization and they both said that they hoped that people weren't taking him for granted. Then I think OB repeated that and said "I'm looking at you MVP."

AB could have run the ball back into the infield.

Not enough to print WS tickets?

He doesn't sit around and hope that the plan works out.

Interesting. Can he play 3B?

That is about what I expected under a best case scenario.

We would like to see more flexibility in response to game situations, but most managers like to assign roles these days. Speaking for myself, I would prefer Kelly as the 8th inning guy and Barnes as the 7th. I also don't like this 3 outs and next pitcher mentality. If Barnes comes in for the 7th and he is pumping strikes, I would send him back out for the 8th and then hand the ball to Kimbrel. That would leave Kelly rested enough to pitch 2 innings the next night. If Kelly got in trouble in the 7th on night 2, maybe you can go to Barnes for an inning or mix an match until you get to Kimbrel. If a guy breezes through an inning, I don't see the sense of going for another arm that might not have his stuff or location. The more times you role the dice the more likely you are to crap out.

Did somebody say low risk high reward?

That has been a very bad combination this season.

Scioscia argues balls and strikes from the first inning -- very annoying.

Or he may never make it to the majors at all.

He's supposed to be our #4/5. We need Price and Porcello to step up into the 2/3 roles. Pom is a very good value at #4/5 for his salary.

I don't think anyone made that case with regard to the last game. The discussion has been centered around bullpen roles.

I don't know if Pom has been remarkably good, especially since he was an All Star last year.

He was excess with no future role on the Red Sox. DD maximized the asset.

Kimbrel is not making top closer money and until those prospects start to show any promise at a high level, there is no reason not to like the trade for a guy as dominant as kimbrel. Margot is meh so far.

I think their price will be high for a rental. The Royals are not completely out out of the WC hunt, and trading a fan favorite would send a very bad message to their fans unless they get a nice return.

Pom has been our second best starter for the last month. he gets paid $3 million or so and we gave up a guy that will not make the bigs before 2020 or 2021. I can live with that.

Last year, he pitched very well and he got great run support. This year is the opposite, but you are pitching pretty s***** and hurting your team when you are carrying a 5+ ERA to the mound at the end of June. His WHIP is 1.52 and Hits per 9 innings is 12. That is garbage no matter how you slice it.

If the rental price is low enough, I would consider it.