a700hitter

LOL! But they would love not having to face him.

I am just speaking for myself. I am just a fan. I don't pretend to jibber jabber about budgetary matters other than my own. If the rest of you want to get involved in a micro-analysis of the team's finances, go right ahead if you find enjoyment in that. At the macro- level, $189 million for a last place team is an overpay. As for whether Kimmi will shudder if Price gets a $160 million deal from the Red Sox, you would have to ask her. I would not.

All that matters to the fans is whether they get Price or don't get him. Their budget and how they manage it is their concern. If they do a lousy job of it and put out a lousy product, that is my concern. If they sign price for $160 million, I am not going to lock myself in my bathroom and cry about how they can afford a bullpen. They need to find a way. Every team in their division found ways to be better than them the last 2 seasons, and those teams used very different approaches. Red Sox management found a way to pay more per win the last 2 years than probably any team in history.

I get all of that, but it is not my business. If they are not smart enough to manage their business without spending themselves into insolvency, they shouldn't own this kind of business. Their balance sheet is not my worry. Other teams sign these star ballplayers to big contracts and they manage to stay in business even when the players deteriorate at the end of the contracts. It can be done successfully. Our guys managed to spend $200 million the last 2 seasons and run a bunch of Yugos onto the field. In the end, I have no control over their finances, so I don't worry about it. I have control over whether I go to the games and spend my money. I don't go to many games if they have an uninspired last place team. The fact that they spent $200 million on garbage the last couple of years indicated to me that the organization needed changes. They have taken steps to address that, and we shall see if they made the right moves.

Yep, and when I can't afford to go to the games, I will stop going. I went only twice this year, because I didn't think the product on the field was worth the price. In the last game that I attended, I had my four seats all to myself. No one that I knew wanted to waste their time watching them and I couldn't even give the other 3 seats away. I think I had them listed on Stubhub for $10. In years when they are competitive and fun to watch, I go to between 10 and 12 games a season-- about one weekend series each month. I don't mind paying the price and I can afford it. It is one of the few luxuries that I indulge in. If they stink, at these high prices, I don't go. I can spend my money in more enjoyable ways than watching a last place team with no hope. If they get guys like Price or Greinke, they would be giving me something fun to watch. I would expect those guys to break down at some point (every athlete breaks down with age), and I would expect that management will find suitable replacements. In the end it is Henry's money and he has to figure out how to best market his team to make his target profit, but don't charge me $75 for a reserved ticket to see Buchholz, Porcello, Miley, Kelly and Masterson. Keep the tickets Mr. Henry if that is what you are offering. You wasted your money on those chumps, and I will not subsidize you. If you want my money, give me a good product. I don't care how he does it-- long term contracts, trades, voodoo. It makes no difference to me. He is in charge of a billion dollar enterprise. He needs to figure it out. I could give a rats ass about his balance sheet or whining about the back end of big contracts or excuses about not wanting to sacrifice the future for the short term. He is the head of the Boston Red Sox -- one of the richest and most elite baseball franchises. There is no excuse to finish last for 3 years out of 4. They should never have to make an excuse about sacrificing the future- that is a concern for small market teams. The Red Sox should be competitive almost every year. If a Canadian team can stock its team with Price and Tulo at the trading deadline and add them to a star studded power laden lineup that already includes Bautista, Encarnacion and Donaldson, save me the excuses for Mr. Henry and his clueless crew over the last several years. Spare me the excuses for management that hasn't produced a single meaningful arm since Buchholz. I am very hopeful that DD will right this ship of fools and produce a consistent winning competitive team. I will not shudder at the contracts if he brings in high producing talent.

take away Kershaw, Greinke and AGon and they are very mediocre-- kinda suckie.

How many times did you have to watch the replay to get all that out of it? Lol!

If they don't shudder when they give away these contracts, it doesn't bother me a bit as long as the players are good productive players for a few years. It's not my money.

Drysdale too.

They make me shudder regardless of their contracts. They stink from day 1. Stars on big contracts usually give you a few good years before they turn bad. I don't shudder if a star declines after giving us 2, 3 or 4 good years.

I think they have a big stud prospect Lucas Giolito who may be ready for the rotation.

Plus, I don't think he is wasted in LF. He plays very well in LF, and as we have learned this year LF in Fenway is not as easy as it looks.

Uh, okay ... even though it doesn't effect you financially?

The quality of every player eventually declines. If we get some good years out of them, I am happy. I think an acquisition is bad if the player is not good and never performs well for us.

Toronto ran off the two longest winning streaks in the regular season. Of all the teams in the post season, they are the team that is most capable of coming back after losing the first 2 games.

Let me get this straight, the large contracts make you shudder, because you are worried about the reaction of some fans if they contract goes bad?

From my standpoint as a fan,a big contract with Price would be a much better idea than the contracts with Hanley, Porcello or Pablo, because Price is elite at a premium position and I am pretty sure that he will put up a few really good seasons. The bad investment on the back end of the deal is not my concern. That is ownership's problem. I have no financial interest in the team. None of us are businessmen with regard to the Red Sox, so the $ doesn't matter to me. I only care about the quality of the players on the field.

That's a reason not to like him?

I like Greinke on a 5 year deal.

As funny as that sounds, it is true.

I suspect that the remarks about Hanley are just a cover story. DD dumped Prince Fielder after one season and he is not close to the zero that Hanley is.

There is talk about Cespedes getting a contract in the neighborhood of 6 years $150 million. I don't see the Mets in that neighborhood. The Mets will probably not even pony up the money to keep Daniel Murphy.

I see that Douche and Cycles took a gratuitous shot at me. What a half wit douche.

yep, seize on the irrelevant and miss the point time after time.

I didn't even mention Pablo. That is you reading what you want to see. Those contracts didn't turn bad. They were bad from the beginning. I' d rather get 3 top years from Price at the risk of him sliding down a hill in his final 2 or 3. Contracts don't bother me if we get some good years from the guy. It's not my business. Let John Henry worry about the finances. As a fan, it bothers me that they get players like Pablo, Porcello and Hanley who are just not good players. Save the Hanley is a good hitter when healthy argument. He's rarely healthy and he is the worst outfielder that I have seen in a Red Sox uniform.