SoxFanForsyth

Not necessarily, if the Sox value him more, they'll be willing to blow more of their cap on him. So, if Cherrington and the Intl scouts think that he's the stud of the year, they can go drop 2.8mm on him or even 3.1 or 3.2 and eat a bit of the penalty. I wonder if they can get creative and say "We'll give you a 2.5mm base contract for 4 years, and then you will receive $1mm in each season you play 10 games or more."

It's Boston. You're not allowed to be happy about anything. And it's Ben the Boob. He's incapable of making any good moves.

Yes. 15 years ago you could find elite production at SS. Not anymore. It's a rare commodity now.

I mean he did well in some circumstances, but overall I'm not at all upset about losing a .282 OBP at SS. Not to mention his defense was a complete outlier compared to his career (5.6 UZR in 2012, -13.2 in his previous 3 seasons). Like you said, acceptable loss for sure. He was not going to be part of the organization going forward. A good deal IMO.

Aviles was absolutely awful last year. A .663 ops, and average defense at best. I don't care if they don't get anyone back but Farrell (which won't happen, it has to be a player for player deal), it's a good deal for the Sox. I'm thrilled that we got Farrell and gave up a platoon bench player in return.

Apparently the player going from the Sox to the Jays was a major leaguer in 2012. Smells like Chris Carpenter to me.

I'd be shocked, beyond shocked actually, if they dealt Barnes or Bard. I'd say it's going to be more along the lines of Carpenter + Linares. I'm actually very excited about this. I think the Sox made the right move here. Farrell is going to be a fantastic manager in Boston. And the players already love him. It's a great fit, and he's going to do very well. I'm thrilled that he's back with the Sox.

According to multiple sources, the Red Sox have hired John Farrell to be the next manager in a deal that will extend through 2015. Thoughts?

DiceK was a rotten talent. He went through Farrel, Curt Young, McClure, and Niemman and never was a good pitcher. In fact, you could argue that his best outings were from 07-10, where he posted a 4.18 ERA over the span of 98 starts. After that, he had 19 starts to a 6.94 ERA. Farrell was hardly an issue with DiceK. I've never heard anything regarding the MDC afraid to admit an injury to Farrell, but that doesn't sound like that's on Farrell, that's on MDC. If he didn't want to admit it to Farrell, he could have spoken with Francona, Tuck, or any number of other coaches and/or medical personnel. As for the beer and chicken, that is easily one of the most overblown thing I've ever seen. The problem wasn't that the Sox had beer and chicken in the clubhouse. That was only the symbol for a team that was quitting. The 04 team took shots before game 4 against the Yankees. Nobody cared about that. The 2010 Red Sox had Buchholz throw to a 2.33 ERA with 17 wins. Lester threw to a 3.25 ERA and had 19 wins. Lackey tossed 215 IP to a 4.40 ERA and had 14 wins. Christ, if that's the kind of production we get with beer and chicken, bring the s*** back.

I'm very interested as to why nobody wants Farrell. It doesn't make sense to me. He's the perfect candidate, IMO. He's already got all the respect in the world for our players. He's already got a relationship with our players. He's a big disciplinarian who is an intimidating force. Plus, all of the team leaders (i.e. Lester, Buchholz, Pedroia, Ortiz) all have huge, huge respect for him and that's where it will filter down. If you want to point out his record, that's complete ********. Francona didn't crack .500 with the Phillies before he was hired by the Sox. Not to mention that Farrell has much, much better relationships with the guys in Boston than the guys in Toronto. And he's got a huge desire to be in Boston. To me, he's baseball's version of Bill Belichick.

Unfortunately, there's nothing out there to buy. And I'm not in the business of spending prospects anymore.

This would be a 70-75 win team, if healthy.

Absolutely not. I think Cherrington has a price that he'll pay for Farrell but also knows that the other guys he has on hand (Ausmus and Hale) are both extremely good candidates for the job, so he's not in a pinch at all. If anything, the Red Sox have the upper hand. If the Blue Jays don't give up Farrell, it's going to be a complete s*** show in Toronto. Nobody wants a manager who isn't fully invested into a season, and Farrell, essentially in a 1 year deal now with Toronto, will be looking two steps ahead while managing the Jays. He's going to be paying attention to job openings, etc. Not the Blue Jays. And they know that, which is why a deal will get done but it'll be for a guy with an upside of a middle reliever like Pimentel or Carpenter.

Thank God Sean McAdam is nothing more than a low quality reporter in Boston. He's actually awful. I can't remember the last time he wrote something that had any merit to it. The fact is that if the Blue Jays really wanted Farrell long term, he would have signed a long term deal with the Blue Jays prior to this whole mess. The fact that he hasn't only goes to prove that the Jays don't see him as a long term solution at manager. So now, if the Blue Jays want to try to acquire a guy like Barnes for Farrell, Cherrington will just laugh in AA's face and hire Ausmus or Hale, both of which would be excellent, excellent options. And then, the Blue Jays will be left with absolutely nothing for Farrell outside of another year of mediocrity and another year away from the inevitable, which is Farrell being gone. So, if I'm Cherrington, I tell AA that he can have Stolmy Pimentel, that's it. Final offer. Take it, good. Leave it, fine, I've got Brad Ausmus on the line right now.

No idea why the Marlins would be interested in ARod. No DH in the NL. ARod's defense has been steadily deteriorating. Doesn't make sense to me.

Sounds a lot like when the Sox were talking to the Marlins about dumping Crawford. And I remember hearing that the Sox were going to have to eat a TON of Crawford's deal.

I'm sorry. Are you going to try to insinuate that Coors is more hitter friendly than Fenway? They are very close to the same. And in terms of the away games?? The AL East is a bunch of bandboxes compared to the NL West. It's not even close. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here. Not like we're taking him to SD or SafeCo.

You can find elite talent at CF. Hell, we have Jackie Bradley Jr. Not to mention that Tulo has put up multiple years of MVP caliber numbers. We know that Tulo is going to stick at SS, whereas we don't know if Bogaerts will stick at SS or outgrow it. If the opportunity arises to get Tulo, you strike.

BA called him, I believe, the "Buster Posey starter kit"

lol @ hypocrisy. Ok here we go. 1. Middlebrooks had a .363 BABIP and a 23.9 K rate in AA in 2011. Not sure what you're getting at. He did pretty well in the bigs. Not to mention Arnie Beyeler compared the two (WMB and Brentz) pretty heavily recently. As well as the Red Sox minor league hitting instructor during an interview with Alex Speier. Call me crazy, but I trust their judgement a hell of a lot more than yours, especially since yours is likely just based on baseball-reference.com 2. Smoak, like I said, is a prime change of scenery guy. Playing at SafeCo gets in a lot of guys heads. Look at Jesus Montero. Crushed it in 2011 for the Yankees. Absolutely horrid this year with Seattle. Adrian Beltre. Same story. A change of scenery into a park where you feel like you can get rewarded for driving the baseball builds a hell of a lot of confidence, and that certainly translates into success. And giving up Britton and Montas for Smoak is a small price. 3. Yes. Let's have 46 games in September when the team was miserable to be a part of overshadow 144 games of AAA. His bat has never been a problem. It's been his defense. Which is what he worked on all season, which likely contributed to his lower numbers. But it was what he needed to do to get to Boston. He didn't just forget how to hit. He's going to be fine. Forgive me for not counting a guy out because he struggled in his call up. 4. How much is 5 years of Doubront actually worth? He posted a 5+ ERA this year with horrible pitch efficiency. Lincecum would be a fantastic trade target because the Sox would get a year to look at him to decide if he would be a good investment at Fenway. Doubront + Cecchini for a guy with potential to be an elite, ace level pitcher is a small price. His walks went up this year and his HR/9 went up. That's hit. His K's were consistent with other years. A slight tweak to his mechanics and he's right back to being a Cy contender. 5. Swihart was a top 100 prospect coming into this season (#72) so it's not like he's a piece of garbage prospect. Not to mention Swihart was drafted at 19, whereas Posey was drafted at 21. A hell of a lot of advancement can occur in 2 years. The Rockies are in a complete rebuild mode. There have already been reports that they're interested in listening on Tulo. Taking all of his contract and giving him a top 15 prospect in Bogaerts as well as a young catcher who could be top 60 going into next season is hardly a bargain for the Red Sox.

Oye. For a message board to be effective, you really need to read the posts. I said Swihart + Bogaerts + Iglesias for Tulo. Swihart has been compared to Buster Posey. Bogaerts is an elite prospect. Iglesias is an elite glove who can play SS while Bogaerts advances through the minors. And the Sox are taking on $144mm of contract. It's a good deal for the Rockies since they're in a rebuilding mode.

Exactly. And the Rockies, much like the Red Sox during this past season, are going to want to free up some money. Taking $144mm off the Rockies hands and giving them an elite talent (potentially the next Tulo) plus a top 100 prospect in Swihart, and a gold glove caliber player who could thrive in an NL style game, and can keep SS warm while Bogaerts advances is very much a good deal for the Rockies. It's a deal that would make me sick initially to be honest.

Tulo is certainly not a question mark, not by any means. You give up Cecchini and Doubront for Lincecum. I guess you could say it's a bit of an overpay, but at the same time, his upside is Cy Young caliber, sub 3.00 ERA baseball. A true ace. And for Smoak, you're giving up Britton and Montas, not really much at all. Certainly nothing that we're counting on. Smoak has a much higher upside than either of Britton or Montas.

Judging the cost for Lincecum is tough. Seems like everyone has a different take on him. He's tough to peg.

Which of the above ideas are out of the question? Rox are reportedly listening on Tulo. Why wouldn't the Mariners listen on Smoak? Why wouldn't the Giants listen on Lincecum? Which idea are you referring to?