Spudboy

This is the thing. If he can continue to play serviceable D at 1st than his bat will remain in the lineup. Barring injury, of course. I'm not eating any crow here. I don't believe that I ever said that he could not play 1st base adequately, I just have had doubts that he would make the effort. I hope that he sustains his current level of interest. It would be wonderful to see him have a huge year.

This is interesting. Does it indicate that the Sox are leaning towards Shaw being the starting 3b?

Well I picked 80-84 without said upgrade. Of course nothing would make me happier than to see all the questionable pieces fit together with the Sox making it to the series in October. I just don't see it happening.

Sometimes your sarcasm is too subtle, even for me. But I'll bite anyway. I agree.

This makes me the Bah humbug guy here. Of course if they trade Pedroia for a #2 starter I may feel differently!

Yes. I agree. Pablo should go.

In any case I am of the opinion that the rotation blows goats as currently configured. Hoping that Kelly "has figured it out" and that Buch will pitch well for the entire season is folly. There is just no reason to believe that they will. The Sox need to make a move somehow to get another quality top of the rotation arm. Let's see what Dombrowski does.

Oh I agree with that. I don't expect the Sox to be smart and play Shaw now. They will do the obvious and dumb thing which is to put the big contract on the field. I was just attempting to point out that the Sox do not have a dearth of talent available to play 3rd. This team is going nowhere without a an upgrade in starting pitching very soon. I'll still watch all the games and I'm pretty much done with Pablo. I don't even call him Fatboy anymore. I'm not one that likes to be redundant in pointing out the obvious.

Of course Shaw is unproven. Until he proves otherwise. Without a chance to succeed he will remain unproven. I deliberately left Holt out of the equation. Merrero is a lightweight bat from what we have seen. But he does have the glove and arm. Replacement level. Rutledge is AAAA so by definition, replacement level. Hernandez looks better than Pablo does by far, but is unproven. Replacement level or there abouts. Graig hits as well as Pablo now. He is a competent infielder. Probably could provide replacement level performance. I never said any of these guys would light it up at 3rd. My point is that the Sox do have players in-house that could replace Pablo if needed and probably not be much worse off. Like your post, this is only opinion.

Sorry, I don't get this argument at all. I think it is always a good idea to start with the best player available and then if necessary, move on to lesser options. From what I have seen of Pablo ( 2015 season and ST this year ), he is roughly replacement level at best. Shaw may be as yet "unproven" but he has been far more productive ( at least at 1st base ) and appears to be competent at 3rd. Let's say that Shaw starts the season at 3rd and fails miserably. The team has several viable options. Even with leaving Holt out of the discussion so he can be a utility guy. There are Pablo himself, Merrero, Hernandez, and Rutledge. Even Graig! All of those guys should be able to provide close to replacement value and performance at 3rd. Ditching Pablo in favor of Shaw now has very little downside and may provide the team with it's best chance offensively. And from what I have seen, decent defense at 3rd.

Jung was not around for your class on bating order, I believe. Which was pretty good. Sure routed the old pre-conceptions of where certain types should bat. Go back and read it all Jung.

Lol. Now that is a funny choice of words.

The budget is less of a concern if the Sox make smart personnel moves. They have not spent very wisely recently. Now they are at their limit or above it after adding necessary and good pieces. Lop off the Pablo, Hanley, and Porcello deals and they are functionally about the same team.

And this, in my opinion, sums it all up.

I do not agree. I'm not saying that the Sox should be in the hunt for a WS birth this year. But I do believe with prudent roster construction this team should be able to clime to 3rd or 2nd place.

I really doubt that Sale will be dealt for whatever price. However, your suggestion of getting Gray also sounds good. Bean loves high ceiling prospects. Something should be done. This staff is a f***ing joke that will most likely implode. Then what?

As I see it Sale or the equivalent is worth the sacrifice. 4 years of control at cheap money for one of the best in the league? One would have to be daft not to at least consider the move. But if one is happy with the way things are going then lets just waste the currency we have stocked up in MiLB. We don't need any of those players to make this team competitive now. Yes, I would like to have them all remain. But that is foolhardy. The Sox can afford to lose a couple of highly valued prospects now to build a staff that can compete for the playoffs for the next 3-4 years. It's stupid not to make such a deal. Sometimes I wish Danny Ainge would take over the FO on Yawkey Way. He would make the move.

The suit is pending.

I'm all for it. I just don't see the Sox going anywhere with this rotation until they get a #2. Obviously with Sale the Sox would have two #1s!!! Send Moncada and Espinosa and let them choose two B prospects. They would probably want Travis for the stated reasons. Throw in Craig and eat some of his deal. Boom. Playoff bound. Edit: Waiting for the deadline is just stupid. This team will be done by then. The time to correct a problem is when you realize that there is a problem. That is functional management. Of course we all saw that this rotation was s*** prior to last season. Even with the addition of Price there just is no quality 2-5. I don't give a f*** what projections have been made by any experts. As one of my favorite conservative always says "It's all about pitching". Or something like that. I've had enough of last place and Farrell's excuses. The time to start winning is now. Of course my choice of Moncada is complicated by that fat contract of his. So send Binintendi or Travis.

Abraham has a really good idea: /www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2016/03/18/angry-chris-sale-opportunity-for-red-sox/gW00Jj19jKg4pb1ar1VNYP/s

To clarify, I believe that Pablo's reported weight of 245 ( or there about ) is not accurate. I am currently fat. I look like a short very white version of Pablo. I am about 280. I have been in "clutch mode" before. Which is to say that if I were to step onto my electronic scale the LED display would read "ERROR". Over 300 pounds. I figure at worst I have been about 325. I am 5'7". Scale my weight up to Pablo's height and he must be around 300. And that is not factoring in that his arms, neck, and legs are clearly larger than mine. Any man on this board who has been clinically obese as I have should clearly understand this. I can not understand why a professional athlete, a person with all the resources and reasons to lose weight, just refuses to do so. Before I broke my back in 2011 I could lose 50-60 pounds by low carbing and just walking around. When I was younger and able to exercise like riding my dirt bikes or going to the Y to do Nautilus I could easily maintain 200 or so which was a healthy weight for me.

So that is what? 4 errors in 11 games?

Say hi to Gator!!!! Does his amusement center still exist?

LOL!!!! http://www.csnne.com/boston-red-sox/report-pablo-sandoval-slams-bat-and-rants-at-reporter

But why was he DNP for the last 1/3 or so of the season when every day he showed up and put on a homer show in BP? The Boston media made a point of showing this for many days and questioning why he was not playing. The Sox line was lingering shoulder problems that prevented him from driving the ball. Yet in BP he was all over that s***. Something clearly did not add up.