SoxFanForsyth

Just saying, just wait and see. I'm not counting on it, I'm just saying I could see some of the young guys (Ranaudo, RDLR) coming up and throwing really well, along with Kelley. Who knows, maybe even Buch turns it around. Again, not predicting it or saying it will happen, I'm saying it will be hilarious if it does.

Going to be hilarious when this team goes on a tear in August and September and actually make this race closer than it ever should have been.

Don't think it's that obvious at all. Perhaps Mookie takes his spot, but Victorino certainly wont.

I don't know how anyone could give Ben an F today when David Price got back a low A SS, Nick Franklin, and Drew Smyly. Lester & Lackey both got better returns than that. You have to look at what the market bore, not just what your dreamland trade was. As a sidenote - you know whats going to be fun this summer and next?? Watching JBJ and Cespedes throwing bullets from the OF. And now that we have a couple bats in the OF (Craig & Cespedes), we can afford to let JBJ flaunt his defense and develop offensively.

I thought he did really really well. - Lester for Cespedes. It's a bit of a bummer that they didn't get more years of control, but they got a proven MLB bat that will hit 40 HR at Fenway. Hits to all fields. It's not perfect, but this year alone, Cespedes has hit 5 balls to LF in OAK that were outs that would have been either doubles or homers at Fenway. Consider also the massive foul ball territory, and he's probably good for a .270/.335/.500 line (which, according to Szymborski, ZIPS has him at .274/.327/.486, and thats generally conservative offensively). They also traded him to a situation where there is virtually no risk of resigning, and there are already many reports out that they're going to go hard after him in the offseason. I'm not sure what prospect packages were available, but I know none of the Dodgers were, and I know if you're looking at someone like Bell from the Pirates, he's in the low minors, and thus is a long way away. All these moves were made with an eye toward 2015, which I approve of. Lackey for Kelly & Craig - Kind of a weird deal, but I like this deal for the Sox. Craig is underperforming right now, but from 2011-2013, he hit .312/.364/.500, which is a 139 wRC+. That's better than Goldschmidt, Beltre, Longo, Tulo, and plenty of other players (its 16th best in all of baseball). He's a pull hitter who, at Fenway, will probably help him get rewarded for some balls he's making good enough contact on to bang off the wall but is a flyout elsewhere. He's signed to a very team friendly deal considering the production that he's capable of providing. Joe Kelly is having a bit of a down year, but I want to see what Farrell and Nieves can do for him. The stuff is outrageous. 96-98 with plus sink, 54.3% GB rate. He's struggled this year, but he's got a .330 BABIP and a low strand rate (70.3%). He's probably a solid #3, but I can see him having a few mid-3 ERA seasons. Also - he's not arbitration eligible until 2016 and isn't a FA until 2019. Those were the big deals. I don't know much about the Orioles prospect the Sox got. Overall though, I thought Ben did really, really well. He could have gone after a few prospects, but for me, give me a guy like Craig and Kelly who have proven MLB track records, maybe having a bit of a down year, but have excellent ceilings over a prospect who may have a couple extra years of control but have massive risk attached to them, and who knows how much they struggle when they arrive. Oh, and for Fred, Craig hit .454/.500/.638 in 152 PA with RISP last year. He's having a down year all around but certainly a guy who can bounce back easy. Cespedes is hitting .291/.351/.513 w RISP this year.

Wish some trades would drop. With Lackey, Lester, Miller, Drew, and probably a few more guys on the block, Cherrington is waiting a long time to make any moves. He's either not going to trade a few of those names, or he's going to be insanely busy tomorrow.

Wow. That inning was awful. And they only got 1 hit (a little bloop single).

To be fair, Workman has always been (and will always be, IMO) a 7th or 8th inning guy. He's a guy who usually throws a lot of strikes. Having him in a starters role is going to expose a lot of holes in his game.

Napoli makes that play but these are the things we're going to have to put up with when we play Brock Holt at 1B. Wish we had Mookie up. He just went deep in Pawtucket.

Oh this guy? Or when Price did this? What a freaking little bitch. The hypocrisy is amazing in that clubouse.

considering lester is a FA after this year, yeah that would be a really really good deal for the Sox.

no i'm just spitballing. gammons did propose that the sox dish lester to the dodgers for seager then flip him for stanton though.

Yeh because it might be Stanton. Corey Seager was just pulled from his game. Per Gammons, the Marlins "lust for Seager". Red Sox send Lester and Herrera to Dodgers. Red Sox send Mookie & Middlebrooks to Marlins Dodgers send Seager & Lee to Marlins. Marlins send Stanton to Red Sox.

Corey Seager and Jonathan Herrera just got pulled from their games minutes apart. HERE. WE. GO!!!

Corey Seager (Dodgers elite prospect) and Jonathan Herrera (an obvious throw in) just both got pulled within minutes of each other. Seager is 20 and has 18 HR in 85 G this year. He's a SS/3B as well.

Why not challenge that??! He was clearly out.

trade Drew now pls. his value is at its highest. pull him from game and trade him.

Projection: Lackey dominates, but everyone has given up on this season and this thread gets ~ 1.5 pages of responses. Onward and upward fellas. Onward and upward. Tough year but get some experience under the young kids belts so we can go into 2015 with a good chance to make the postseason.

Yup. Plus, no guarantee that Lester signs with them. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up hitting FA if he's traded. He's not going to take a discount from a team he's traded to like he would in Boston. And if its me, and I had 2 options in front of me - 1. Sign Lester at 6/144 or 2. Trade Lester, acquire Joc Pederson, then sign lester for 6/170, give me the latter all day. It's only money and Joc could be a star. He's the only thing this farm is missing - a power hitting OF.

Kind of getting excited for 2015. Especially if we can land Pederson. Sign HanRam for SS/3B with Bogaerts. Lineup of: Betts RF Ramirez SS/3B Bogaerts 3B Ortiz DH Napoli 1B Pedroia 2B Pederson LF Vazquez C Bradley CF Rotation: Lee Lackey Buchholz RDLR Ranaudo That'd be an exciting team to watch next year (or even the 2nd half of this year). Would be a good idea to make many of those moves right now to see what you've got for next year and see what moves you need to make.

Cherrington said, when asked about trading Lester, that he wouldn't comment specifically on any players but that the Sox are listening on all players. To me? That means if the Sox get offered something like Joc Pederson for Lester, he's out the door.

Bogaerts is slumping, no doubt about it, but he's showing signs of life coming out of the ASB. He's proven all he can prove in the minors, and he's adjusting to big league pitching. He's only 21 years old, keep that in mind. Most 21 year olds are in A ball. He'll make his adjustments and go on an absolute tear like he did earlier. It is too far away to make any kind of a bet, but I would love to make a bet with you that your reservations on Xander are completely unneeded.

Owens, we agree on, is an excellent pitcher. Ranaudo has a 2.41 ERA in AAA. Brian Johnson, a very underrated prospect, has a 2.18 ERA in AA. Allen Webster, you need to give him more than 5 starts to judge him, has a 3.10 ERA in AAA. Rubby has had 1 stinker but has been excellent outside of that, 3.54 ERA in MLB. I'm a little confused. Why don't you like our young pitchers? Next year, our rotation should include Lee/Lester, Lackey, RDLR, Ranaudo, Workman. Yes, I would dish Buchholz if he goes on a nice run.

Webster's command has improved significantly this year. 3.25 BB.9 this year. Joc Pederson is the main trade target if the Sox sell Lester and he goes to the Dodgers, who would make a lot of sense. Pederson is a power hitting outfielder, which is what the Sox need. And half of those players won't be on the team next year? They absolutely will. I don't understand why you don't think prospects take time to adjust to MLB caliber pitching. I guarantee you would have said the same thing about Rubby De La Rosa at the beginning of this year, that he's not an MLB pitcher. He had a tough outing last outing, but other than that he's been excellent. It takes these kids a bit to adjust, and that's fine. You absorb the lumps on the front end and get cost controlled talent for 5 years on the back end. It's how you build sustained success. You can't just go trade for Adrian Gonzalez and sign Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett because those deals that either don't work out at all or are horrible on the back end. I can, however, see them trading for Lee and having another veteran on short years to help with this transition. If the Marlins look to deal Stanton, I can see them paying in prospects for him too, so long as Bogaerts isn't involved.

Escobar is having a rough year but keep in mind that's in the PCL, where offense is incredibly inflated (JP Arencebia hit like 305/.360/.630 there). He's also got a 7.78 K/9 and a 3.00 BB/9, both of which will play as a middle of the rotation starter. His HR/9 (1.30) jumped up from 0.33 in AA, largely because of the league he's in.