jacksonianmarch

Judge with 2 more bombs, OPS over 1.000. He's ready

Sox win 95. Yanks win 97

When we find a cure for ebola

Anyelo Gomez returned to NYY. I thought he was definitely a goner. Good to have him back. Kid throws smoke

Wade has earned a spot on the opening day roster per Aaron Boone

Wade is definitely auditioning for a utlity job. I do wonder, though, if Wade might be showing enough to make Walker be more the utility guy. I think Walker ends up winning the job out of ST, but he and Wade might be on a time share to start

If you lose Bogey, you'll need to spend to replace him. While he is inconsistent and hasn't reached his potential, he is still a very good SS. He's accumulated at least 3.2WAR the last 3 seasons. He will be paid handsomely

And guys, I am not so naïve to think my team will face a similar process if we "go for it". Right now, we have a lights out system with depth that is big league ready. If we nurture that and keep the right players, we can keep this thing rolling while paying the right guys and letting others walk

Resetting the lux tax just isn't happening. The market was down this yr for a variety of reasons, but by the time the sox have to spend, the market will be back up, I promise you that. Now, assume the sox don't get the opt out from JD or Price and they stay forever. You currently sit right against the upper limit, which I am sure you aren't going to go past. Let's see who comes off the next few years After 2018 Kimbrel $13 mil Pomeranz $8.5 mil Kelly $3.5 mil Hanley $22 mil Nunez $2 mil ($4 mil contract in 2018 but $2 mil buyout in 2019) Arbitration raises will eat Hanley's unnecessary contract. You will replace Pomeranz or Kimbrel, most likely Pom. Kimbrel walks after declining a QO and allows the sox to add some much needed talent. Nunez will need replacing if Pedroia doesn't return well. After 2019 Porcello $20.75 mil Sale $13.5 mil Bogaerts $XX Panda $19 mil Thornburg $XX I anticipate you'll try to re-sign Sale and it will take Porcello and Sale's 2019 contracts together to bring him back. If Bogaerts continues as a 3-4WAR SS and doesn't take the next step, he is still a $20 mil per annum player. If he puts it together and has a .300 25HR season, he'll be worth more. Thornburg will either be your closer or setup man if he returns to health. He is likely gone. You'll have a second spot to replace which will eat the last of your cap space. After 2020 Benintendi and Devers are into their arb years. You've managed to keep Sale, re-sign Pomeranz or someone of his ilk and get a 5th starter on the cheap. Kimbrel and Thornburg are into their tenures with another club. You've managed to keep the window open. Betts and Bradley are FAs after 2020. Pedroia, Martinez, and Price are still on the books. With Beni starting to cost money and Devers costing something, the minor losses of the other guys finishing their rookie contracts is eaten up. If Bradley doesn't keep hitting, then he is an easy release. But re-signing Betts will likely force you to use all the available space at that point. After 2020, if DD keeps the family together... Price $31 mil AAV Pedroia $12 mil Martinez $21 mil Betts $30 mil Sale $32 mil Bogaerts $20 mil Pomeranz $18 mil Before you know it, you're $164 mil deep with just 7 players. This is the cliff

Ethics, integrity and honesty have a price in baseball. $17 mil more than expected value is a ton of money and business ethics will get blurred

Even if he is unconscious in 2018 and hitting every ball he sees out of the park, he isn't seeing 497PAs.

I can help. A player burns an option if they are on the 40 man roster. Guys who made it to ST who aren't on the 40 man get re-assigned to the minors. Guys on the 40 man who get sent to the minors get optioned and they burn one of three option years. Also, disregard where a player gets re-assigned or optioned to in ST. The moves are strictly for work groups in the minor league portion of ST. You don't know where a guy will actually end up until you break camp

Slav, my guess is you replace Pom on the open market (maybe re-sign Pom) and let Kimbrel walk with a QO in hand. Your pen has some guys returning who can back end a pitching staff. Your system otherwise has absolutely nobody who can step up into the #3 role and be effective unless you think Wright can be good again or Johnson is anything more than a nothing

Rusty Kuntz.

Drill him all you want. Our ace had the highest FB velocity in baseball last yr. Our pen features some of the hardest throwers on the planet. If Stanton gets beaned, then JD does as well.

HRam is owed nothing. He signed on the dotted line to play a position he didn't know how to in one of the more difficult environments on the planet (especially with Fenway's LF). He was a square peg for a round hole since he signed and now that continues. It was a stupid contract that keeps on getting dumber. Even if HRam is vintage and hitting the ever loving s*** out of the ball, they HAVE to limit his PAs. A non elite masher without a glove has about a $5-$6 mil market in 2018 dollars. You cannot afford to run up against the cap with Hanley at his advanced age and now out of position again for 2019. You just cannot.

You really don't have a choice. Kimbrel and Pomeranz are coming off the books after 2018. The arb raises to the B's will eat that $22 mil. Kimbrel and Pom are set to come off the books at $21.5 mil. Without dealing someone, you cannot afford to replace both. I do wonder if DD thinks he can replace Kimbrel internally, but nobody can really replace that production. The cliff talk isn't speculation or griping. It is an eventuality with every team that "goes for it". You deal off your next wave of talent in order to maximize your current roster. In doing so, your cheap talent eventually becomes expensive. If there are no internal options to replace that expensive talent, then you spend to keep it. Eventually, you run out of money and start replacing big producers with unknowns of lesser talent and ceiling and the whole thing crashes down. The only reason why the Yankees were able to keep their window open from 95-12 was because they could outspend everyone and the penalty was only money. With the penalties now hitting player development, massive overspending takes your ability to draft, sign and develop, which is ultimately what rebuilds your club. DD is one of the old guard. They know how to build, and they know how to maximize a window. My hope for my team is that Cashman sees the old guard is about peaks and valleys. The method to continue to have long standing success is to break in a wave of uber talented prospects regularly. Once the pipeline dries up, a cliff forms

Pom has morphed into a strange hybrid of effectiveness with no efficiency. He doesn't help a defense as his pitch counts keep them off their toes. He doesn't help a bullpen as he frequently needs relief to begin or during the 6th inning. Yet strangely, he is able to maximize his effectiveness in terms of preventing runs. He is the antithesis of what pitchers are taught. He doesn't go right after hitters. He is willing to nibble. He would rather allow the certainty of a walk vs the uncertainty of contact. It works for him. But even if he replicates what he did last season, one must wonder how effective he truly is. Your bullpen was the 4th least taxed pen in the AL last yr. A lot of that had to do with Sale being unreal and Porcello eating innings. If Price returns to his prior innings eating ways (effective or no), then you can survive another season with Pom going 5.1IP a start. If there are other injuries in the rotation, his pen burning nature will eventually catch up to your team

They flubbed his development. I get there was a need, but an OFer who is above replacement value is a dime a dozen at the deadline. Taking a kid who's bat is projected to be top notch for the position and someone who has the raw skill to handle a difficult position should never be moved off the position.

Andujar sent down. Wade may win the starting 2b job, although I doubt it

It was stupid at the time. They thought his bat was elite, yet almost all of his SR's had him as a high average, middling power hitter with developing patience. He wasn't an offensive juggernaut hence moving him off position before they even saw what they had there was really stupid. Swihart needed another year or two to become a big league level catcher. Heck, Jorge Posada caught for over a decade and he was clearly not great. He just learned how to catch well enough to make his bat overcome his deficiencies. I believe that was the case with Swihart. He'd be a minus defender with enough of a plus offensively for the position to make him an above average regular. Instead, they moved him to a position where offense is a premium and even if he turned into a good LFer, his bat would have been a minus. I'd get it if they moved him to 3b or 2b and saw if his bat plus defensive development maximize his value, but moving him to LF was just dumb. I honestly think the sox have demolished Blake Swihart's future and I think Blake would be better off being dealt to SD or to Atlanta and effectively having an MLB internship as a catcher

Nate Solder's kid is sick too and it didn't stop him from signing with NY. Boston has great medical prowess. But other cities do as well. NYC, Minnesota, LA, SEA, etc all have phenomenal medical capabilities. Kimbrel will certainly consider that in his negotiation, but if you think a reliever is going to take a hometown discount, you're crazy. Kimbrel is one pitch from ending his career and shortening his earning power. If he has another 2017 this yr, then he is going to be the first reliever with a $100 mil guarantee

That is true. I anticipate the Rays will be running their 25th man down every 5 days to get fresh arms.

You can either run out a 5th starter who will get his teeth bashed in or you can have multiple looks once a turn. I understand the rationale. This was more a necessity due to circumstance as they dealt Odorizzi then lost their top two pitching prospects with arm injuries

The WAR to dollar amount needs to be altered. Morrison was paid nearly $1.25 mil per WAR point.