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RF.

In all fairness, if there was one player who deserves the blame for 2008, that would be Beckett. When your ace has a 9.64 ERA in the postseason, including an 8 ER game against the Rays, it certainly hurts your team's chances. I can't believe I forgot exactly how bad he was that postseason... after all the s*** Lester got on here for the game 7 loss, so much blame should have fallen on Beckett.

If an outfielder gets hurt, he's the next on the depth chart for RF.

On another note, Bryce Brentz hit 17 HR in 82 games in AAA last year. 30-35 HR power in the minors, despite shooting himself in the foot. Maybe the Red Sox see him as a serious RF option if things go bad in the outfield.

I have vivid memories of 2008's playoffs. They ran into a buzz-saw in Tampa Bay. Here are some names from that playoff pitching staff -- Garza, good-Kazmir, David Price, James Shields, Grant Balfour, Edwin Jackson. They also had the magic of Johnny Gomes, and their lineup still had Crawford, Pena and a healthy Longoria at the time. The reality was the Red Sox couldn't get runs on the board, and while Varitek didn't hit much, no one did. Lester got a total of 2 runs in support over two of his games, and that was the real difference. Fred, listen to yourself here. Depth is never a bad thing. Good teams have good depth. Bad teams have no depth. Look at 2010 and 2011 as prime examples. 2013 was a team that had amazing depth, and look what happened. People on the board here made the same exact argument about Drew last year... the Red Sox didn't need him. Well, he opened up Iggy for a trade and got the last key piece for the WS run. The Red Sox's bullpen depth seemed a bit too deep, maybe they shouldn't have signed that Koji Uehara guy. You're going to give UN? an ulcer if you keep arguing on this because trying to make the case that depth is bad is silly.

By that logic, if the Sox don't get him, the Yankees will. There will come to be a point where Drew will simply take whatever he get. If the Yankees could get him for long term with low value ie 3/15, that third round pick would be well worth it.

Looks like they updated the article. Hmm.

Red Sox have reportedly spoken to the Padres about Denorfia. They gave the "We believe we're contenders" BS. Call us back midseason.

Fred... absolutely none of the big name pitchers are off the market yet. Seriously, none of them, not even trade options. The Angels will get atleast one more arm.

Peavy went 4-1 with the Red Sox in the regular season, averaging a 4.00 ERA, 1.16 and 6.40 IP per game. Picking him up moved Workman into the bullpen and freed a spot for Xander on the field. He's not an ace anymore, but he gave the Red Sox very good value that helped them take the AL East and hold onto homefield advantage. Without him, the Red Sox may have pitched Dempster or Doubront in the playoffs. Eesh.

Jenny Dell's WAR is zero. Ben must know she is expendable.

...and then one of them gets hurt and your season is over because you have a punto type stuck in your lineup. Pedroia will get hurt. Ortiz will get hurt. XB will struggle wmb will struggle. It happens. Why put your team in a position to fail ?

Doubtful. The only articles I read seem to say "Drew will go back to the Red Sox if he gets desperate and the Mets/Yanks don't want him"

I don't understand the distaste for Drew on a cheap one-yearer. If he's cheap and talented, the whole team benefits. Worst case scenario, you salary dump him at the deadline for a bullpen arm or platoon outfielder. Also, what is with the "Promise of no QO" silliness? Drew should have taken the QO this year, and if the Red Sox offer it next year, he should take it next year.

I distinctly remember a few years back when there was a shortstop similar to Drew's caliber at the top of the ss free agent pile. Scutaro had more questionmarks but he ended up only getting 2/12.

Here's a crazy thought. Maybe Tanaka a gigantic contract with tons of years isn't in his best interest. He might be able to get something like 6/120 to 7/140 if he is lucky. However, maybe a team could sneak in and give him a 2-3 contract at high AAV, planting the idea of a future contract into his head. How much money do you think a 27-28 year old ace would make on the open market in a few years? 200-300 million easy. The bidding team wouldn't have to pay a posting fee the second time around either.

Blasphemy.

Its a bad sign when tthe Sox really need a guy like Darnell McDonald or Ryan kalish

I get the feeling that years are more important to Jon than AAV. There are guys who are worth big contracts... Pedroia and Lester are two very rare cases and the Red Sox know it. Might as well extend him before his era shrinks with Salty gone this year.

The Red Sox had one more outfielder last year they used Bradley to backup Vic and ells when they were hurt. Giving ALL those abs to Nava would have been a disaster.

Nava has no business in right field in Fenway.

This is such ridiculous "Captain-Hindsight" craziness. After the 2004 offseason, was anyone talking about O-Cab being replaced by an almost equally valuable player? The real story was letting arguably the best starting pitcher in major league history go to free agency.

The problem is Soxsport will make a post.... have someone objectively disprove what he says with hard cold facts, and then make the same exact post in another thread. He doesn't interact with other posters -- he throws a pile of slop out there, and moves on, without any intention of discussing or arguing the merits of what he is saying. I have reacted the same way UN? does to SS, because it can be extremely frustrating, but I have since moved on.

The Yankees make a ton of sense based on their needs, but the Cubs may make more sense for Tanaka. There will be pressure to do well, but he should have some time to adjust to the majors before the farm arrives and the team is a big contender. The cubs will be deep into the bidding on this one.

I'm scared of pitchers who threw in those crazy Japanese high school tournaments. Yu had far fewer innings on his arm when he came over. Either way, this will be a huge bidding war.