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Benitendi is having a solid rookie season. Not as awesome as expected but any rookie will have ups and downs. Certainly the sun-bright glare of Aaron Judge's rookie season has him a shoe in for rookie of the year. Anyways back to Devers. His power is the real deal. I could easily see him turning into a regular all-star at the 3rd base position if he continues on his current trajectory and just works on improving every day. Yes 1st base is still a bit of a concern but not a huge one. Mitch Moreland has been solid if unspectacular. And HRam can cover 1st base at times. We might need to upgrade in the future but it isn't a gaping chest wound like the 3rd base position was until we called up Devers.

Well Price could always pull a Lackey and turn back into a good pitcher. It is concerning to hear health issues are popping up for him at this age though. I wouldn't actually be averse to the Red Sox trading Price. But only if we got a good return. Lately he seems to be snapping under the pressure in Boston. But Price has at least been MLB average and an innings eater, even if he hasn't been the Ace we imagined we were signing when handing out the mega contract. With the huge struggles of last year's Cy Young winner - Rick Porcello - does anyone know WHY he's struggling so badly? -- It looks like we will have to hold onto Price for now. But I wouldn't be surprised if he were gone next season to a pitching starved team as long as we could get a reasonable return for him.

Well it's too late now!! His value has tanked! If we had traded him at the end of last year we might actually have gotten VERY GOOD TALENT in return. Last year his value was at his highest. It would have been best to move him on for a really good MLB ready 3rd baseman. But nope. Now we have to let him find his bat again. That's something the Sox struggle with at times is identifying when is the best time to move on from talent and get something great to very good in return. They need to take a page from Bill Belichick. He moved on from Lawyer Milloy, Tebucky Jones, Logan Mankins, Chandler Jones, etc. at the right moment AND got some compensation in return.

Trading away Shaw was one of the biggest MISTAKES of the offseason. We have a gaping hole at 3rd base. And how the hell were you counting on Fatso Sandoval to fill that hole? Even if he comes back healthy, he's a mediocre player. Look at what Shaw has done this season: .281 BA 9HRs 34 RBIs .540 SLG http://www.espn.com/mlb/player/_/id/32890/travis-shaw .318 OBP doesn't show much discipline but when overall you are getting an .858 OPS player, well it was one of the worsts moves of the offseason. -Almost- as bad as trading for Drew "damaged goods" Pomeranz last year. Sandoval's terrible contract continues to haunt us. And David Price has yet to pitch this season despite his mega-contract signing. Red Sox continue to waste money and talent. Is it that surprising that we are mediocre? We made the mistake of not replacing Big Papi. Could have easily signed a premier power bat for this season to shore up the lineup. Instead we have to watch Jackie Bradley Jr. whiff over and over again. How do so many "smart" people continue to make so many huge mistakes? It's a long season. But this has just been really frustrating to watch.

Benitendi just went 5 for 5 against the Orioles. I see why he was the #1 rated prospect. Maybe the Red Sox kept the best 'top prospect' after all. If Chris Sale solidifies himself as the Ace of the staff. It looks like Dombrowski made the right moves this offseason. Probably his only big mistake so far is Pomeranz for Espinoza. But you can't get them all right.

You know what I first voted for Sale. But thinking it over it should be Porcello. He's the reigning Cy Young so it makes it a much easier excuse to give him the nod without the other big pitchers getting jelly. It also sends a message. Hey Rick was the top guy in the AL last year, you want to take that #1 spot, you gotta beat him out. Competition is open, but until then... prove you deserve to be #1.

Naah it's time for Buccholz to go. It will be a good thing to start the season under the luxury tax, as repeat offenders get hit even harder. He's not worth 13.5M PLUS the luxury tax hit. I'm not going to miss his maddening inconsistency. We have enough depth in the starting pitching now with Erod, Steven Wright, Pomeranz, and Joe Kelly for the back end of the rotation. I'm going to miss Koji Uehara and Tazawa, our japanese duo of relievers. We'll always have 2013. But it was time to move on. That's part of successful baseball as well, knowing when to move on. I really hope that Sandoval has turned the corner. When in shape he was an actual contributor for a WS winning Giants team. And we're not going to move him without eating a lot of money at this point. So it's better to hope he's gonna turn it around.

Sale Porcello Price Wright Eduardo Rodriguez That would be my guess. But our top 3 are pretty much all ace quality so that is really nice since each of them has won a Cy Young or been in the top 5 running for a Cy. Any one of them could take the #1 spot.

Not a sexy move. But a decent bandaid at 1st base unless his production suddenly falls off a cliff. career average-wise he appears good for 20 dingers per season and a .750 ops. Considering we want to avoid the luxury tax, this seems like a good stopgap acquisition until Sam Travis is ready to crack the bigs.

good player. but dumping 86m dollars for a reliever. wow. that certainly won't help much with the yankees long term luxury tax issues.

I believe we paid a very HEAVY price for Chris Sale. But he's a top of the rotation, ace level pitcher. If he brings you a title within the next 3 years, you'd have to say it was worth it. Even if Moncada turns into the next Hanley Ramirez. I was looking forward to seeing Moncada and Kopech play for Boston, but you gotta give to get. Hopefully Sale stays healthy and we win that title because Dombrowski pretty much is going for broke right now.

I'd go with Ted Williams, Big Papi, and Jimmie Foxx in that order.

The reason the Red Sox are in bad shape cap-wise is bad deals like Pablo Sandoval and not moving on from useless guys like Allen Craig and Rusney Castillo. Just those 3 guys alone = 38.5m dollars in salary. Hanley Ramirez is more than ok for DH duties. Let's cut the fat and get rid of Pablo, Craig, and Castillo. We might have to eat some salary but it's probably worth it to get under the tax threshold. I believe repeat offenders pay an even heavier tax. But the new CBA will make that crystal clear.

Congrats to Rick!! He really deserved this Cy Young award. The guy carried us for a large portion of the regular season and just gave us a chance to win every time out. A true workhorse starter. Hopefully Porcello kicks on and continues to improve. I'll admit I was doubtful when they gave him the big extension early. But he has proven that he deserves every penny of his contract. Now, we still need to get another quality starter, but the price has to be right and it needs to be the right guy. Because honestly I'm not sure if E Rod will continue to progress. Pomeranz also has something to prove, that he can do it in the AL East, which is the toughest division in baseball to pitch against. Hopefully Wright can repeat. And Buccholz, well he's about as reliable as a roulette wheel. LOL. I still believe we need another good starting pitcher to really be contenders in the postseason.

Thank you for everything Big Papi!! David Ortiz should win the MVP award in his final season. Highest OPS in baseball and most total bases. Really a huge impact player for us in his last season. Anti-DH bias needs to be put to rest this one time.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Mookie win the MVP. But what about David Ortiz? If anything it would be fitting to award him the MVP in a phenomenal sendoff season! He has been extremely valuable to our run and his OPS leads the ENTIRE league. If Mookie doesn't get it, I'm rooting for Big Papi as MVP!!

Porcello is making a very strong case for Cy Young. He's been our most reliable pitcher this season. And his performance is a huge reason why we're going to win the AL East title. I think that has to factor into it. Not just the wins but the fact he pretty much carried us on his back for a large part of this season on a division winning club.

Clutch grand slam homerun by Pedroia! It's looking more and more sure that we will win the AL East. That is huge! Oh and the Yankees lost again meaning they likely won't even make a wildcard spot. Must be a sad day in Yankeeland.

We swept the Yankees!!! Hell yeah that feels good!! And we're on top of the division too. It's a really nice situation that we're in now. Just have to hang on and perform down the stretch. If we can keep winning 70% of our remaining games I think we win the division title for sure.

Pedroia with more power? I've rarely seen a player of his stature really stroke the ball so well and with such real power. His bat speed is obviously incredible for him to generate those 30+ homeruns. Mookie is kind of a unique player really. Complete package, offensively, defensively, speed. He's your 5-tool player. I'm just happy the Red Sox have obtained the unicorn! Looks like an All-star for many years to come! You don't often get this level of player out of a ... 5th round draft pick??? Amazing!

Lester and Moncada are completely different issues. Lester is a talent retention call. Moncada is a talent recruitment call. Red Sox didn't feel that Lester was worth top dollar. IE he's not worth paying as an ace. They gave him an insulting offer and ended up losing him. So... they went out and offered real ace money to David Price. Could we use Jon Lester right now? Probably. But if Lester is still a Red Sox, chances are David Price is not. Opportunity cost. Honestly I'm more disappointed in the money we blew on Rusney Castillo and Pablo Sandoval than the Price vs Lester decision. Paying more for an arguably better quality pitcher is fine. However I'm not sure I see any way we can unload Castillo or Pandoval without taking serious monetary losses.

Yep, Moncada showed off a monster arm last night. Makes those throws across the diamond with ease. In hindsight, putting him at second would almost be a waste of that arm. Yoan has got a lot of potential to unlock. His athleticism will help on that hot corner. Red Sox have one hell of an enviable infield right now -- Moncada-Bogaerts-Pedroia-Ramirez. It's hard to name an infield that is better overall offensively. And the defense looks to be pretty decent as well.

Dude who cares how much the team paid? Is it your money? It was obviously a wise investment. The Red Sox have a superstar in the making on their hands. And the crazy thing is that they are ADDING Moncada on top of the already great young talent they have in Betts, Bradley, Bogaerts, Benitendi, etc. I'm looking forward to seeing this team grow together. This is the MOST TALENTED team I've seen the Red Sox field in like... EVER! Moncada looks like the real deal so far. I'm hoping he can continue to contribute down the stretch and we get to see more of him.

2 for 5, 2 runs scored and an RBI. His first hit was an RBI double. Quite a promising first major league start for Moncada! The Red Sox are truly stacked with fine young talent. It's an embarrassment of riches. I have no worries about our offense, what worries me is will our pitching hold up? So far Price and Porcello looked very good against the A's. Then again A's dwell in the basement of the AL West, so there's a good reason we're looking so good against them. Eduardo Rodriguez gets the start tonight. Hopefully he gives us a strong outing. The great news is that we are now tied for 1st in the AL East! Let's ride this streak out a little longer. The bats are hot, the pitching just needs to be average-above average! Let's go Sox!

Moncada is gonna be a stud guys! Why the doom and gloom? This is an exciting callup! It's the September cup of coffee. If he's not ready at least he got a taste. But if Moncada IS ready for the bigs, he's gonna make a major boost for us down the homestretch, the way Bogaerts and Ellsbury did back in the day!