a700hitter

The teams that have those other pitchers will also want Bogaerts or Betts.

The Yankees had horseshit pitching in 2004. The Mets have one ace after another taking the hill. Plus, the Cubs offense is not the 2004 Red Sox.

The Cubs have a good young team but lack pitching depth. Looking forward to next season, they will need to strengthen their pitching. They have a strong top of the rotation, but the rest of the staff and the bullpen are not good. They are in a tough division with the Cardinals and Pirates.

Schwarber in LF had to hurt them sooner or later. Every play by him is an adventure. But he is still better than Hanley. Lol!

And you saw the wisdom of signing Hanley and Pablo. Those contracts didn't seem to bother you very much.

Just my opinion.

No, but Boston is one of the top gigs. He is not going to get one of those again. The turnover was unusually large this year. There likely will be less openings next year.

Their budget is an internal control. It is not a league imposed salary cap, and the owners have in the past exceeded the luxury tax threshold and have expressed willingness to exceed it again if it makes sense. I don't think they would hesitate to exceed the threshold to elevate the team out of this prolonged last place rut. Continuing to be not be competitive is a bigger threat to the value of the franchise than the risk of some long term contracts. You are right that they have the money. That is not the issue. Neither of us are saying that they have unlimited resources, but they do have resources that are significant enough that money isn't their biggest challenge.

I hope he lands a job somewhere. He seems like a guy with good character, and I will not have to worry about any team that he heads sucking up all the good pitching prospects.

The Dodger, Blue Jays and Rangers are top 10 payroll teams.

I hate when umpires look for an argument with a player. The ump last night should have been behind home plate between innings and not in between home plate and the pitcher's mound looking to instigate an argument with Tulo. No one goes to the game or watches it on TV to see the umpires. The league President should call that jack hole and read him the riot act.

The budget is plenty big enough with lots of flexibility to free up money. Unless they signs 3 or 4 guys to long term bad contracts that all expire at the same time, there shouldn't be a budgetary problem. Other teams are consistently successsful with far less resources. The Red Sox problem is not and never has been money. Their challenge is talent evaluation and development, especially in the pitching department. The acquisitions of Pablo and Hanley have me shuddering. Combine that with the ridiculously over priced extension for Porcello and we have $260 million dedicated to terrible contracts. I didn't read many concerns about those contracts when they occurred. A quarter of a billion dollars set aside for a #4 starter with a 4+ career ERA an overweight third baseman with no power that can't hit lefties with an average glove and a broken down SS who is injury prone being moved to a new position. Those are the kinds of deals that strap payrolls and ruin seasons-- a lot of money for very little talent and ability. Edit: Luckily the Red Sox payroll is large enough to absorb these types of sunk costs and still have plenty of flexibility. They may be forced to dump some of these contracts while eating a hefty portion of the money to free up additional payroll.

I don't think a 10 year hiatus was his choice.

Yep, especially if you are not good at it.

There are an unusually large number of GM jobs available this year. Once those positions are filled, those individuals will be in those jobs for several years. Next year, I would not expect there to be as much turnover at the GM level. He could be missing the boat.

If he isn't pursuing one of the open GM jobs, he's a fool. just sayin.

Oh, okay. My bad. I misunderstood "shuddering" as a bad thing. The team has been terrible for the last 2 seasons, and they have spent a s*** ton of money in the process. I will not blame David Price for driving us into last place. If we should find ourselves in last place in a few year under DD, I am fairly certain that there will be many reasons for it other than David Price.

I am glad to hear that you don't worry about it. I get that there is a limited budget, but I don't stress too much that they will spend so irresponsibly that they will be financially strapped and handicap themselves. Their budget is plenty big to sign a high profile player or two. They have spent a s*** ton on s*** the last couple of years.

Budgets change over time. Over the course of a long term contract the payroll will increase. The trend is still upward. We are not privy to these trends. If you want to worry about it, have at it. I don't think you have enough facts to really know what is going on with the team financially and how that will play into their budget, but go ahead and worry if you don't have enough stress in your life. But you are worrying about billionaires' money. It isn't team money. They like to make big profits, and that can't happen by being a last place team year after year. Edit: I'll shudder when the play on the field stinks. I shuddered every time a ball was hit to LF when Hanley was out there this season. Different strokes. I'll trust them on the money end. If you want to analyze their budget and shudder over it, that is your right.

Okay, so what is the point that you are making... that we know enough about the finances of the Boston Red Sox that we can make judgments about their financial health and that I should worry about these things?

Their payrolls are published and available, but their profit numbers are not as readily available. They have more flexibility than other teams when it comes to payroll as they are operating at a very nice profit -- again were are talking about Billionaire's money. You are viewing the payroll budget in a vacuum. It doesn't exist as a standalone entity. Profit is the true indicator of financial strength, and MLB has always been less than transparent about that..

Of course Henry and the other owners have a target return on their investment. They intend to make a profit and project the size of their profit each year. That profit is their money.

I guess that I just have a different perspective on it. I view the management of the Red Sox budget as an aspect of their job about which I have no knowledge or expertise so I don't concern myself with it. Clearly, it is a very important aspect of their job, and I just have to have faith that they are not putting themselves in a bad financial situation. I can judge talent on the field and I can evaluate whether it is a good or bad team on the field, so I limit my conversations and criticisms to what I see on the field. As critical as you think I am of the FO, in some ways I am more patient and cut them more slack than you do. I don't criticize them unless the product on the field is substandard. I don't criticize them for the future of their finances and the possible negative results of their overspending. It is your right (as you said) to do so, but I will trust them to take care of their money. I don't know enough about their balance sheet to offer an informed opinion. I do know enough to offer an opinion on the acquisitions of Hanley and Pablo regarding what they bring to the team on the field. At this point, the grade on them is a big "F" and can see it improving only to a "C".

Unless the pitcher is in the final year before free agency or a team is looking to dump the salary of 30+ year old pitcher (e.g. Shields who is not a #1), I can't see many possibilities of getting a #1 pitcher without giving up a package that includes Betts, Bogaerts or Swihart in return. If DD can swing a deal without including one of them, I would be thrilled. As for Donaldson, I disagree. IMO, Beane most got fleeced.

If DD can net us a number 1 pitcher while keeping Bogaert, Betts and Swihart, I tip my hat to him. I hope he can do it. I can't see it happening unless the pitcher is going into the last year of his contract like Pedro was when we got him for Tony Armas Jr and Pavano.