mvp 78

I just don't see DUMBrowski making another bigly move unless he can grab a guy to play 3b. He seems willing to go into the season with Pablo in the lineup.

I think he's more valuable to the Sox as a #5/swing guy then as trade bait.

Holy Jesus. Maybe he can teach the Japanese about his wrap technology?

And that's exactly why I don't think you pick up a $13.5M option just to trade a guy in the offseason and why I don't think he gets traded.

In a perfect world the following happens: Betts remains an MVP candidate Bogey and JBJ don't go through prolonged slumps Beni is "the real deal" Hanley repeats his 2016 performance Pablo is an average 3b Pedey stays healthy for the whole season Price gets a little better Porcello pitches similar to last year Sale doesn't take too much of a hit coming to Boston Kimbrel stays healthy and doesn't blow up Carson Smith gets healthy and pitches to career norms I'm not sure anything else on this roster matters enough to wring my hands over.

Does that mean he owes the team money for the 1st half?

The last time the Sox were out of the top 10 in runs scored was that putrid 2001 team.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting This team could get 100 less runs without Papi and they'd still be a top 5 offensive team. The problem with this team is the pitching, not the offense.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017-mlb-free-agent-tracker/positions-5 Stephen Drew?

Or just trade Bogey/Betts/JBJ when they only have one year left on their contracts. You don't need a fire sale to restock your farm.

I think it's really hard to have a full prospect stash AND compete every year. I think there will be an ebb and flow to how many of our prospects are in the top 100 and that's not necessarily a bad thing if we are moving on from the right prospects. If they really believe in Devers, it makes sense to keep him around. The key is knowing who to deal and to attain players that can perform in Boston.

Not interested. He seems to be on the decline.

They can always trade their own guys to get prospects and refill the war chest the way the Yanks did.

I think he has a bounce back year. I don't expect him to with the CY, but he should be better than last year. Having Sale at the top of the rotation will certainly help. I just hope Sale can get on the same page as Leon or CV early in the season.

Why? If he can stay out of Luxury Tax Hell and add a few pieces here and there, he'll be just fine. It's not like the Sox don't have the financial backing to stay competitive year in and year out.

We can't REALLY say that for sure.

He doesn't need to be great to be a backup.

Hope springs eternal...

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18236953/pablo-sandoval-boston-red-sox-ready-start-my-baseball-career-all-again-shoulder-surgery "My career had fallen into an abyss because I was so complacent with things that I had already accomplished," Sandoval said by phone in his first public comments since August. "I did not work hard in order to achieve more and to remain at the level of the player that I am and that I can be." "Things definitely happen for a reason," Sandoval said. "[The surgery and rehab process] have helped revitalize that fire in me to win again." "I have been following a really strict routine that has taken a lot of dedication from my part," Sandoval said. "It has not been easy to wake up every single day at 6:30 in the morning to then head to the gym and start a full day of work. But you have to have that kind of dedication if you want to achieve the goals you have set for yourself." "I am not taking anything for granted," Sandoval said. "I am here to work hard. I'm not thinking about the position or not. I am starting from scratch, and I am here to show what I can do on the field." "I certainly get it. I understand all the frustration [fans] must have felt, and I can't hold any grudges," Sandoval said. "I have no ill will about anything. Actually the opposite. It was another lesson for me. It fueled me. It gave me the courage to work harder every day so one day I can be a part of another Boston Red Sox championship."

He only got to 6 innings 6 out of 14 starts. If he can start going deeper into games, I'll believe in his upside.

No, that wasn't the point I made with my original post. I said there weren't many prospects that were traded who came back to bite them in the ass, not that they never ever lost a trade.

At this point, is the top of the rotation upside still there? He has yet to put in a consistent run of good performances. http://www.fangraphs.com/statsd.aspx?playerid=13164&position=P&type=&gds=&gde=&season=all Of course, I hope he can prove me wrong this year.

I wouldn't trade either at the moment.

Not interested in that bet. I just don't think they re-signed him solely to be dealt during the offseason. I think they are keeping him, for now, in case they need a 6th starter early in the season due to injury.

If I was to bold the parts of this post that are important, I'd just bold the whole thing. Good post.