mvp 78

I'm glad I wasn't a part of whatever hellscape you guys and gals were posting at. That sounds terrible. SBF probably didn't like him because Beltre struggled offensively with the Dodgers at times (even though he was basically a 3 WAR player every year). He had a career year in 04 and then went to the Mariners were he "struggled again" (for different reasons). Then Beltre had another resurgence in 10. SBF is the type of guy who believes players can force themselves to have career years when playing for a contract (though we know that's not the case). He probably just thought it was a fluke season. To me, it was worth the risk to have a HOF 3b for a while.

That last sentence is all mine. The last place finishes proves that "they're the freaking Red Sox" is a meaningless sentiment.

The problem being is that JBJ, Beni and Xander won't be max $$$ deals. They are going to be cheap enough to re-sign. The early speculation was "how could we sign all these guys to $20M AAV deals", but I don't think the majority of them will even sniff $15M. Once Panda and Hanley's contracts are off the books, you can re-sign Xander and JBJ and Mookie if they want to.

Why? What brings you to this conclusion? Over and over again we're being told that the Sox are the highest bidder. Boras has a history of waiting until the end of January for his big FA's.

Make him a DH and there is a higher chance he stays healthy.

And everything else has just been speculation during a slow offseason.

I agree with the sentiment, but don't say s*** like this: "They’re the freaking Red Sox, full stop." The freaking Red Sox were in last damn place 3 out of 4 years. They aren't infallible.

Not on here. It was a one year deal. A flier on a top end talent that struggled offensively in a s***** hitter's park. At worst, you were getting a gold glove at 3b for one year.

That wouldn't have prevented his decline.

I don't remember anyone complaining about the Shaw trade last offseason. The Beltre and VMart issues were a big discussion back in the day on here.

Abe Alvarez was a young prospect who never really got a shot. Fernando is one of the all time greats. Yeah, he's in the middle I guess...

If they kept VMart and Beltre, this team wouldn't have had to make any trades to compete in 2011. It would have been a complete alternate reality. VMart signed 4/50 in 2011. Rizzo could have been eased in during 2013 and VMart could've been traded in the following offseason. Beltre signed 6/96 in 2011. He would have been a FA after 2016. They could have signed him to a 2 year deal in 2017 and worked Devers in during 2018.

No, I would rather have had Beltre. The comp picks are just lottery tickets IMO and Sox got lucky.

To me, it’s just Boras posturing. Not a big deal.

You’re seeing it as a “demand” Boras is framing it as “hey he likes to play the OF so he’s not JUST a DH.”

Which is why Boras wants more bidders: options.

And not much has happened since.

The answer is always more pitching!

How is that weird at all? Don’t you always want a second bidder to drive up the price?

No. They coul’ve grabbed JBJ with an alternate pick. Beltre 2011-17 > JBJ 2011-17

Drew was screwed for being attached to a QO (that he should've signed).

Yup. Probably praying that some guy tries to put on Wade Boggs' cowboy boots or shoots guns with Brentz or drinks from Paxton Crawford's glassware or babysits Buchholz's kids and has to sit out the year so that an additional team enters the bidding.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/12/j-d-martinez-prefers-to-sign-as-outfielder-mlb-free-agent-rumors-red-sox.html Free agent slugger J.D. Martinez is informing potential suitors that he would prefer to sign as an outfielder, according to a report from Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. Just how that will impact the ongoing recruitment process is not yet clear, but the report suggests it could mean the oft-linked Red Sox will need to boost their offer or clear outfield space to make a deal. Of course, as Silverman also acknowledges, there are some potential bargaining advantages to be pursued from taking this particular stance. And the Boston organization is wary of being drawn into a one-team bidding war. Agent Scott Boras suggested at the Winter Meetings that Martinez was amenable to serving as a designated hitter, even indicating that his client had “never said to me anything about” the matter. But it seems a somewhat different tone has been struck in talks with teams. Ample uncertainty remains in Martinez’s free-agent outlook. At this point, the Red Sox are perhaps the only clear suitor that can afford Martinez. His former team, the Diamondbacks, has also been directly connected but seemingly lacks the current financial capacity to fit the kind of salary that’ll be needed to lure the slugger. Likewise the Giants are attempting a financial tightrope walk that makes it somewhat difficult to imagine Martinez fitting (at least, at the rate of pay he’d prefer). A few other teams are rumored to be looking at the market’s best hitter, though it’s not really evident which are serious participants. At the very least, the report suggests that, while Martinez might be willing to sign on as a DH, he’d require a sweetener to do so — at this stage of the proceedings, at least. (Indeed, Martinez has indicated he’d sign as a DH/outfielder for Boston, Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston tweets.) Boras has never been afraid to wait out the market for his clients, with notable power hitters such as Prince Fielder and Chris Davis scoring huge contracts in late January. No doubt the Red Sox are interested in landing Martinez — Silverman calls him the organization’s “first choice” — but at a palatable price. The team could line up a trade of Jackie Bradley Jr. to make way for Martinez in the outfield while perhaps also making a move for Eric Hosmer or another option at first base, though president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski threw cold water on the idea of a Bradley trade. If Boston’s preference is to utilize Martinez as a DH while holding onto Bradley, it seems the sides will wait to see who blinks first.

I still don't believe this is the case. I think they were just saying that in hopes that more bidders would show up. Nothing has indicated that he doesn't want to play for BOS. He even said he'd be fine to DH if he had to.

If I'm an NL team, I'd be very wary of signing Martinez to play LF for 5-6 years, especially at a larger park like SF.