mvp 78

It's why they need to sign Raffy now or let him go.

IF that initial story about the extension from last year is true, they were WRONG for not signing him back then to that money. That would have been well below market value and they would have been easily able to deal him in 2 years if Mayer busts the door open and he refused to switch positions.

You'd have to project Xander being a 4.5 fWAR guy for the next 7 years. He can do that for the next 3-4, after that it's a big question mark. I think the Padres final offer was stupid money.

Or at least NEVER say that re-signing Xander is a priority. Never float stuff to McAdam that he would be re-signed.

After Justin Turner is no longer DH for this team, Yoshida can play there IF they have someone to fill in at LF. They have trouble finding OFers for some reason.

Angels have done it for a while now. They could try it, but the Sox would have to get healthy first.

C better 1B better 2B better IF Story doesn't move, worse otherwise SS worse no matter what 3B worse RF same CF better LF better DH worse

Now Paxton can sit at home. Kluber Sale Bello Whitlock Pivetta

f***in' A, man.

Per Chris Cotillo's article today (take with grain of salt): The Red Sox will still like to add another starting pitcher before Opening Day, according to industry sources. “What we’re looking for is upside and also consistency and leadership that we can provide for the group,” Bloom said at the Winter Meetings. How they will do that is unclear. The free agent market has been picked over with only a couple of veteran arms still available. The top two options, Michael Wacha and Corey Kluber, are both guys the Red Sox have expressed interest in this winter. Kluber, according to a source, is talking to multiple teams and expects to have a new home within a week. Beyond that, Johnny Cueto, Dylan Bundy, Zack Greinke, Wade Miley and Chris Archer are among the well-known names on a less-than-desirable free agent market. Bundy's only skill is not walking guys. Greinke is done. Archer has sucked for years. Miley can't break a pane of glass anymore. Cotillo then goes on to suggest that maybe they end up going for a trade. Up-the-middle add a priority The belief is that the Red Sox currently have two top priorities — adding to their rotation and improving their up-the-middle mix. The latter mission is a bit less defined due to the composition of the club’s current roster. But Boston definitely wants a more defined alignment at second base, shortstop and center field on Opening Day than it has now. Kiké Hernández and Trevor Story will both factor in significantly up the middle along with whoever else is brought in. The versatility of both players allows the Red Sox to have options, such as (in no particular order): Option A: Story plays shortstop, Hernández plays center field and Boston adds a a full-time second baseman, replacing Christian Arroyo Option B: Story remains at second base, Hernández stays in center field and Boston adds a full-time shortstop Option C: Story or Hernández takes over at shortstop, with the other moving to second base as Boston adds a full-time center fielder Option D: Boston adds one or two players — who are likely versatile — to complement the mix it has in place Jean Segura is the top available free agent second baseman and can’t be ruled out. If the Sox want to add an outfielder, Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds is a logical target after requesting a trade. Versatile guys like old friend José Iglesias and Miami’s Joey Wendle and Miguel Rojas would fit as well. Jurickson Profar, Elvis Andrus, Josh Harrison and Cesar Hernández are still free agents. Reynolds is too expensive. Wendle is an underwhelming but professional option. Rojas is fine for short term solution at SS. Profar is apparently LF only profile if you look at his metrics. Andrus or Hernandez would be ok. Harrison doesn't seem like a Bloom guy. At this point, expect the Red Sox to add a veteran depth option, likely on a minor league deal (Roberto Perez, Jorge Alfaro and Robinson Chirinos are available, as are old friends Sandy León and Kevin Plawecki). But the industry consensus is that the Red Sox are not willing to add somebody just to add somebody. They already have AAA catching covered, but if they want to bring 4 more guys on MiLB contracts I don't care.

I'm not sure it actually has been reported what the Sox has offered this offseason.

The Red Sox offered Xander a price so that statement is just false?

You're going to have to find that post. I don't remember that at all and she's not on here to defend herself.

Turner was signed to be the DH plus backup 3B/1B. I think if are now looking to "find a position for Turner" they should just pack in the season.

Has anyone said otherwise?

I don't remember this at all. I'm not sure they discussed moving Xander off SS at any point since 2014.

If it's reluctant, you won't here about it in the media.

Who is making excuses for them not signing Xander? They should have signed him. It was the right thing to do. We know they messed up last offseason. We've talked about that endlessly. Nobody on here has made an excuse for it.

Strongly agree. At 8.6 fWAR, the rotation was 18th in the league. If they perform how I suggested above, they should be about a 12 fWAR rotation. It's a 40% improvement! However, they'd still be middle of the road at best and maybe ranked 14th in the league. For reference, the much maligned 2015 rotation was 13th and had 12.9 fWAR. The really bad rotation that we stopped talking about a long time ago was 2012 which was 28th and only had 4.5 fWAR.

That pitching staff SUCKED and I guess the hope is that internal options will be better this year than last season. I guess that's the plan. They had money, not spending it on at least one starter is pretty f***ing dumb. Two would have been preferred.

#1 team pitching fWAR. #1 team starting pitching fWAR.

The "SS only" Xander was posturing during a SS FA feeding frenzy. He'll move off position when asked.

NEWSFLASH, you aren't getting an ace for Casas AND they don't have a long term SS plan aside from Mayer. I don't see them trading for an ace anytime soon.

I think Mata could win that spot in ST.

I think we all agree about that.