BSN07

Adding those two would be nice but considering the Dodgers are after Grienke I don't see the Sox being able to sign him. Sanchez is not going to be worth the contract he gets. Just because they have money doesn't mean they should piss it away and over spend on non elite players. The FA market is just not a good way to fill the SP voids right now. But the Sox will have money and prospects to possibly make a deal for a front line pitcher to replace Lester(Jacoby + prospects, sign Victorino for lead off and stop gap for Bradley in CF). And then look at the one year contract guys for SP depth. Dealing from a weakness isn't usually the norm. But in the case of getting a 21 year old possible middle of the order bats it's worth it. I'm not sold Lester would be back after his contract runs out anyways. I think his home state of Washington will be making a major pay for him. And I could see the appeal of teaming up with the King Wish TB wasn't in the division, Price is about to get extremely expensive and would be just the kind of front line guy they need. I'm not even sure TB would consider a 3 team deal.

I'm ok with the deal as well. It most certainly means next year is a rebuilding year. But watching a season of all the young kids would be interesting. I don't think Lester being signed for only 2 years is an issue for KC. They are also rumored to be looking at Shields for Myers. And he's only signed for one year. This isn't a run the guy out of town move. This would be a quality baseball move and to be honest a pretty bold one.

Interesting.

Signing both Swisher and Napoli limits their versatility which is one of their more attractable values.

Supply and demand my friend. Helps the drunken sailor Dodgers are interested too. I won't be surprised to see him get close to Hammels money.

I feel like Seattle, Texas, Atlanta,and Baltimore are all more likely landing spots for Swisher.

Anyone of note Jacko?

that quote is about Hamilton. I really like Hamilton on a 4 year deal. That is something I hope the Sox are all over. Problem is I see a lot of teams being interested in him on a 4 year deal. I could see a 4/110M deal. My guess is it gets pushed to 5. Still a 5/125=135M deal isn't bad.

I wonder if they would be interested in Buchholz

I wouldn't call them a failed team. More of a flawed team. A team that's was built around offense to with stand the every day rigors of playing in the AL East. That just happened to go cold against a very deep Detroit rotation. The Yankees biggest flaw was the lack of impact SP behind CC and Kuroda. They would have needed the first 2 to win every time out and not have a bad outing to have a shot at the WS title. It wasn't impossible but it wasn't a likely outcome either. IMO Detroit would have had the edge in the series even if the wheels hadn't fallen off for the Yankees because of their depth at SP.

Iggy is far better option at this point over Lillibridge. At least Iggy has potential. Lillibridge is what he is. If he's your starting SS your totally boned. Hell I'd rush Bogaerts to the Majors before I went to Lillibridge.

Ya I noticed that now

Ichiro

He is worth a one year deal to a lot of teams. But I'm not sure the Sox are one of them. He's going to want to have a chance to win a WS. I honestly don't see him leaving NY.

Probably but add in the fact multiple teams would surely be interested and that makes the price rise up. Lincecum making that much could in the end benefit the Sox as they are probably one of only handful of teams that could take 20M on in one player for this season and not be too phased financially by it. In the end it could take just prospects. But I don't see SF as overly motivated to move him, and it would have to be something that helps them now as they are in their current rosters window to win while remaining reasonably affordable.

I read and Ellsbury for Lincecum idea somewhere and didn't give it much thought. But thinking about it a little and it seems on the surface to make sense and benefit both sides. Lincecum has some ?'s and is expensive. But he could be a name and a valuable addition to the staff. I wouldn't expect him to be #1, but he's interesting candidate. Even if he isn't spectacular they most likely offer him a qualifying offer and still collect a pick as someone will take a chance on him. SF already has a good staff. They lack offense overall. They could be looking to replace Pagan. Ellsbury is a west coast PAC 10 kid(which makes me think he ends up in Seattle eventually if not back with SF) that could lead off or even hit more toward the middle of the line up. They will save about 12M in the deal. And should have a decent shot at signing Ellsbury once he hits the open market having a good working relationship with Boras and Zito coming off the books. Ellsbury, Posey, Panda is a solid young core for SF's offense.

Wow didn't see that coming. Not sure what the hurry was? Overall with inflation could look pretty friendly in a couple years.

Ross is gone. He's priced himself out. Only way he comes back is if he absolutely get's nothing on the FA market. Which I don't see happening. I think whomever misses out on Upton will fo after Ross. So I think he's a Brave or a Philly. As far as Swisher goes, he's a good player. But he's not that tempting at 4-5 year deal.

Very simply no. He's not a fit in Boston. He's a much better fit for NY and I think he re-signs there.

If the Sox get 150 IP out of Lackey this year it will be a plus. They will baby him so he comes back looking strong this season in hopes to build some trade value(at least enough to not have to eat a major chink of the $, I'm sure they would have to eat some) and they can get his meatball ass out of town. That would be the last of the back fired "splash" moves from the last spending spree. I can dream right?

I think that prices Grienke out of Boston. Not that he was ever a real likelihood. But if he get's that much I can easily see some team offering Sanchez 80-90M, which prices his out of Boston as well. I don't like Lohse in the AL East. I feel it is far more likely they will be going with the 1-2 year guys like Haren, McCarthy, Hernandez, Blanton, so on and so forth. Next ear free agent crop has some interesting names but not #1. If this team get's a #1 is will either be traded for or Lester/Buchholz steps up. I've seen Garza's name pop up recently on here. I'm not sure he's a true #1 and that's what it will certainly cost to get him and he's a free agent next season. I'd rather keep the prospects.

Toronto is a powder keg going into the season. If they struggle it's gonna blow. I think they are going to be the "sexy" pick going into ST. I don't like their rotation to be honest. Johnson is a big ? in my book. He has an injury history and is a career NL pitcher. At best I think he is Josh Beckett, at worst I think he is Josh Beckett. Mark B(I'm too tired to look up how to spell his name) is a solid mid rotation guy. After that it is very suspect. Romero imploded this year, Morrow could go either way and then it get's down to guys you just really aren't sure about. Their offense should be pretty good. I haven't really looked at their BP. I'm expecting a trade for JP to either the Mets of Rangers with someone like Holland coming back. So their rotation could look a little more stable if that happened.

Awesome, I've been waiting for talksox to get an expert in here so we will finally know what these players should be signing for on the open market. I'm no expert but I was only going off his value the last two years ('11- 6.6M '12-9.7M(per fangraphs)) when I decided it was a valuable sign. But hey, what the hell do stats know right?