SoxSport

[OT, from discussion above] W went to the Business school at Harvard--with the help of his father. That was documented in the movie "W". There's a scene when his father, Bush, Sr tells him he had to pull strings to get him into the B school. The Bushes were disappointed with W, which may be the reason why Mrs Bush said "two are enough" when asked about son Jeb running for President. W got an MBA from Harvard, and he was a fighter pilot in the AF reserve. He must have some smarts, but his career was heavily greased by his father. He made his money originally by buying a chunk of the Texas Rangers with oil money furnished by his father's friends. After the Rangers moved into a publically-financed stadium, the team's value greatly appreciated, and W made several million $ selling his share.

The Red Sox have won their championship--much to their management's surprise. So really, there is no need for them to break the bank this year with expensive long term signings. I think they are aiming to avoid that. Right now, guys like Napoli are testing the market to see if they can sucker somebody to overpay in years and money. Hopefully, he'll come back to Boston with an acceptable deal. He knows damn well he is best off in Boston--at Fenway. I wonder if Texas will go hard after him--doubt it. He isn't a catcher anymore. The Sox have some breathing room now to give their best prospects a chance. A way to improve the team without spending much money. There is no pressure to win again-- maybe only to contend and make the playoffs.

It doesn't make much sense to me for the Red Sox to be signing older players at this point. They held the line with Ruiz at 2 yrs. He is 35. Clearly, they valued his defense. I don't know what that means for Salty. Everybody likes the kid, but there are better defensive catchers around. I'd like to see him platooned at 1B, where he might be an even better hitter. You have to wonder if anybody has thought of that. I don't see a Boras type contract for Ells in Boston. He is somewhat fragile, doesn't walk enough for a leadoff batter, and hasn't shown consistent power. I don't know what that 30 HR year was all about. You never know in this day and age. I think a key for them is to re-sign Napoli. He and Gomes supply a lot of the RHd power. It remains for X and MBrooks to change that. As for dealing pitchers, the one guy they need to unload is Dempster. The rest should stay.

Agents have a big incentive to get the top dollar--regardless of which team gets the player. They work on commission. The emotional factor is only with the player. Agents usually steer a player towards the maximum contract; and more often than not, the player listens to the agent.

I'd be shocked if they gave Ells anywhere close to Crawford money. And that's what Boras will try to get. Of course, everybody knows Crawford is vastly overpaid. That showed in his efforts to sell Bourne--a similar type of player.

Sure. But Ben had a plan signing all those "role" players, and it worked. That wasn't the whole story--Farrell, Nieves and the pitching were another big part.

The compatibility argument all the way up the line was probably a key factor. The dysfunctionality last year was about the FO and the coaches vs the manager, as well as some of the players vs the manager. It was really the FO vs manager, with the coaches and the players taking both sides. valentine never had a chance in that environment. But he walked away happy with $6 million in his pocket. If Cherington had gotten his way last year, and signed Sveum as manager, it probably would have been for at least two years. That would have put them in a tough position this year to get Farrell. Do you really think Cherington would have dumped his pick, Sveum, for Farrell--even though Farrell was their original first choice? I think not. The result would probably have been no championship. Ben fared remarkably well through all this. I hope he doesn't screw it up this year, though no one really is expecting a repeat--it doesn't happen these days. But they can still be serious contenders--obviously. One mistake he can make is to show too much loyalty to the wrong players. He should know who the key players are that won a championship. The other thing he should do is to meld in the top young players--X, Middlebrooks, Bradley, maybe a young pitcher or two. Oddly enough, winning a championship has bought him the opportunity to give the younger guys more opportunity.

I think you're seeing some initial posturing here. You know that Cherington is a cautious kind of a guy. You can tell that by just listening to him for 5 minutes. LOL. He's also a guy who is probably a good listener, and takes a lot of input from the manager, coaches and the rest of the FO. The important thing is to understand your chemistry--which players are important to keep. I think Nap is one of them. They will probably work something out if he really wants to stay. But teams are known to make ridiculous offers to pry away players from competing teams. Happens all the time. Then you have to let them go. I recall the Rangers got Beltre that way. But he turned out to be worth it. Usually it isn't.

I wouldn't include Salty--great kid, improving hitter, but his catching leaves something to be desired. Ross was much better in the playoffs, and the contrast was striking. Salty got exposed, and I suspect they would like more defense in a #1 catcher.

The Sox are in a pretty good position with Naps. They know his hip condition better than anybody, and have the advantage in dealing with him. He'd be foolish not to prefer to come back to Boston, and he has indicated as such. But he has to play the market, because it could have some bearing on what he can get out of the Red Sox.

They bought Greinke--that was the major difference. Plus Puig and Ramirez. The Red Sox trade didn't have much impact. Look for them to try to get Price. There could be a major bidding war for Price with the Yankees. Cable TV West vs cable TV East. LOL.

I hope Boras is successful in putting Drew and Ells out of reach for Cherington. That will unblock SS and CF for X and JBJ. And give Middlebrooks more time to mature at 3B. I also think it would be a mistake to deal Lackey. Not with Buchholz so fragile. Even Peavy should be kept, because you never have enough pitching. The guy they need to get rid of is Dempster--to the NL. They must have another young starter who can ERA below 5. I read they view Workman as a starter. Plus they have Doubront. Plenty of starting pitching--keep it--except for Dempster.

The Boras twins, Ells and Drew, are undoubtedly gone. Boras can get blood out of a turnip, and he will get some team to overpay beyond what the Red Sox will pay--for two replaceable guys. Most likely, he will get them multi year deals which won't make sense for the Red Sox. Besides, the Red Sox have won their championship--no team ever repeats--the cards have to fall in place just right, and that never happens two years in a row. The exception were the mercenary Yankee teams of the late 90s, when they were outspending everybody by an even larger margin than today. Plus they had some excellent homegrowns like Jeter, Posada,Rivera, etc., they don't have today. I think the Red Sox have the luxury of not feeling desperate to sign free agents. They should, however, retain the chemistry that fell into their laps this year. That means they should know who the key players were: I would say Vic, Lackey, Lester, Koji, Nap, Gomes, Ortiz, Pedey--maybe Buchholz, Ross, Nava, Carp. They have the luxury of putting a Bradley in CF and Bogaerts at SS, Middlebrooks at 3B, and let them develop. One thing Cherington needs to do is to define the core chemistry and keep it. His first mistake will be to change it, or upset it. Successful GMs make that mistake all the time. The Yankees never make that mistake.

Farrell got screwed by the 2 writers in Toronto and the west coast writers. Tito has to be one of the worst MOY choices in memory. The Guardians spent a lot of FA money and made a lot of changes off-season that worked out. Tito's game managing has always been mediocre. His strength is with the media and the players--interpersonal. That helped him with the Western media. The East knows better. The GM of the year --Cherington--is picked by the GMs. The MOY should be picked by the managers and the player awards by the players. Screw the writers--they are too political.

agreed. Priority should be in the infield--at catcher and 1B. Nap has to be re-signed. He's part of the team's new identity. catcher--somebody defensive to go with Ross. In wonder if Salty could be an even better hitter platooning at 1B?Mauer says 1b will improve his hitting. Don't see Salty as a prime-time catcher.

I saw the voting on the BBW website. The Bos, NY,Balt, TB writers voted for Farrell. One NJ writer voted for Tito. The two Toronto writers voted for Tito. The West coast writers voted for Tito and Melvin. Two west coast writers from Seattle left Farrell off the ballot. The GM voting was done by the GMs. The MOY voting should be done by the managers. Maybe the players should do the players voting, too. Screw the writers. Too much politics.

Iggy is a soft hitter. Myers was a much better choice for ROY. As for MOY, it was the Baseball Writers Association at its ugly worst, with it's west coast hostility (and ignorance due to the scheduling imbalance) to the east coast evident in picking Francona as MOY instead of the obvious choice, Farrell. Farrell's team not only had a better record by 5 games, but also was first in the best division in baseball--coming from last place last year. A rare last-to-first feat. When you contrast that with Cherington being picked as GM of the year (not chosen by the writers), it shows you how much the writers had their heads up their asses this year in the MOY award--at least in the AL. The embarrassment is theirs. Those writers from the west should pay for admission to Fenway next year, and be banned from the free food and booze enjoyed by the media.

Bradley had the same numbers in AAA as Bogaerts. When he came up in Sept, I saw him hit a HR over the Red Sox BP against a LHP. He can hit lefties and has more power than Ellsbury. Potentially a better player. Bradley's problem last year was he was blocked in the OF. If Ells goes elsewhere, he will not be blocked. It's that simple. He is ready.

The thing about Ells is he is replaceable. They have JBJ, who could be better. And cheaper. I don't think you want to pay Boras bucks to keep a guy who has flaws, is not part of the team character (he really isn't), and is replaceable perhaps with a better player in Bradley. Ells is a very good player when he's healthy, but he has little or no power and doesn't walk much for a leadoff batter. Besides, he is going to get overpaid with Boras. Stolen bases? Speed is important, but you only count SB numbers in fantasy. They have alternatives for SBs.

Beltran sounds like an idea floated by the media with nothing else to talk about. The Cardinals have lucked out incredibly on this guy. How much longer can he last in the OF? Don't push your luck on him. He's 4 years older than Vic--and wants more Boras money. Pass, please. If you want to break the bank after you've signed Nap, Ben, break it on a catcher like McCann. Though Ruiz would do just fine.

Boras will get Drew more money than he's worth. Hopefully not in Boston. He'll probably do the same for Ells, too. Probably not in Boston. The main reason is the Red Sox are loaded--they have younger alternatives. Who should the Red Sox get? Nap, for sure. Part of the team's character. Peavy, too. Another competitor.The main focus should be a good defensive partner for Ross. Salty? Maybe for first base. He might hit even better there. That's what they're saying about Mauer. Excellent choices for ROY. Myers worked out better than I figured for a kid without much minor league experience. Fernandez well-deserved. The Baseball Writers showed they are not big market focused, like those NY based media types.

Hope so. Makes the most sense to me. They have good prospects at 3B and SS coming up behind MB and XB in the minors. 1B is a shakier position.

Nap is indispensable at this point. He and Gomes are part of the character fabric of the team.

They have a couple of guys like Webster who could blossom. The problem is they have deadwood like Dempster they have to figure a way to get rid of--not easily done. You don't know what these kids can do until you give them an opportunity. Look at Workman.

They are oozing expensive contracts thanks to fox sports we Kemp is not hi level anymore after his big contract season. Oft injured. Possible post steroid effects? Who knows? You don't take that bad contract. The rest are unavailable. You won't see any more $20 mil per year LT contracts in Boston. They've learned they can win without them. My guess is they do one or two $13 mil/ 2 or 3 year deals like they did last year.