vjcsmoke

Ace pitcher!! Dombrowski got his man! He was eyeing Price from the start of his tenure as Red Sox GM. I believe if David Price stays at the Ace level for the first 3 years, very good the next 2 years, and even just average the last 2 years, this contract was well worth it. We'll have at least a 3 year window to compete for pennants and the postseason. And we kept our 1st round pick and our farm intact. And Price is proven in the AL East. It's hard not to like this deal as a Sox fan! I'm excited!!

Ok so who would love to see Chris Sale playing for the Red Sox? *raises hand* Even if the package centered around Blake Swihart or Xander Bogaerts would you do it? I have a feeling, if they would take Swihart+ package, it would be worth it. But it's really hard to give up the shortstop of the future in Bogaerts. http://www.masslive.com/redsox/index.ssf/2015/11/boston_red_sox_trade_rumors_bo.html

If we are signing an Ace we need to shed salary. Our biggest weights are Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval. Honestly, Sandoval is probably the easier guy to move. It's hard to find good to above-average 3rd basemen. So in this scenario, we would trade Sandoval, and sign our Ace, whether that's Price or someone else in the top tier. And here is how we replace Sandoval... Trade for Miguel Sano. Normally Sano wouldn't be available. But the Twins just won the bid for Byung Ho Park. Mauer is at 1st base, and Plouffe at 3rd. Sano is basically splitting time at DH where he is wasting his full potential. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/11/twins-win-byung-ho-park-bid.html We could trade some high caliber prospects for Sano, upgrading our pitching staff, shedding Sandoval's salary, and upgrading the upside of our 3rd base position at the same time. http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/expect-miguel-sano/

It's a very interesting winter meeting transition time for the Red Sox. Chris Sale would be an amazing get. He is proven in the AL and his numbers have generally improved each year. Only 26 and entering his prime, he's already a 4 time all-star and has sported a 5:1 SO/Walk ratio over the course of his career. Even more importantly he has performed very well against AL East teams. There's less uncertainty with acquiring a Chris Sale than acquiring an NL pitcher of similar status/talent level. That being said, Swihart is a valuable piece to give up, however I'm starting to think you've got to give up something great to get something great in return. What will our new GM Dombrowski do?

I was surprised we splurged all that money on Sandoval & Hanley Ramirez. One of them ok... both of them it didn't make sense financially. Dombrowski might have to pull another "Nick Punto" trade just to get out from all that salary. And our starting rotation still looks to be a mess. We have a couple of guys who might be #2-5 starting pitchers but no clear cut #1. Buchholz we will likely pick up his option, but even if we do he has never been able to stay healthy a whole season. Free agent pitchers: Cueto, Price, Greinke, Zimmerman, Samardzija. The top 3 of that group could easily be a #1 pitcher for an interested team, perhaps the Red Sox. Harvey is going to be VERY expensive. Sonny Gray might turn out as good eventually and his price in terms of capital is probably more affordable. IF Oakland accepts a package centered around JBJ, I think Dombrowski makes a move. Swihart, I would rather keep. Very hard to find good young catchers with offensive upside. http://www.athleticsnation.com/2015/10/7/9468237/the-2015-2016-buyers-guide-trade-edition

JBJ is playing awesome. That also means that his value is at his highest. So that being said, I only trade him if we get a can't miss -Ace pitcher- in return. Not so long ago, we traded Hanley Ramirez for Josh Beckett. Beckett would go onto pitch and help win a world series for us.

Any reason why? I feel that range and throwing arm are the most important factor for good outfielders. Should we trade Mookie Betts just because he's only 5'9?

And the answer is... Brock Holt. Surprised that Xander Bogaerts didn't make it in though.

Cueto all the way! I know he is a 'rental', but maybe you can make the deal contingent on him agreeing to a long term contract. Trade for Cueto, then sign him to a 5 year deal. This team is desperate for a #1 starting pitcher, and Buccholz ain't it.

I find it hard to believe we were willing to give Porcello 20mx4 but were not willing to give 25x4 to a Jon Lester. I'm not sure what this front office was thinking. Porcello is pretty good, but Lester was our ace. Oh well, it's already done. Can we make a trade for a true #1 pitcher any time soon?

Betts is definitely THE MAN. My vote for Red Sox rookie of the year. He blasted two home runs to lead us over the Rays in a game where Smyly was essentially throwing a no hitter until he ran into the Betts Pain Train. :-) I am so glad that we kept Betts out of trade discussions, he looks like he will be a great Red Sox player for a long time. Question -- What are we going to do with Rusney Castillo??

I feel like we made the best offseason signing of the season with Hanley. He has been everything we hoped for and more. Slides straight into the #4 spot, has already jacked 10 home runs including the latest 3 run shot to power a win over division rivals Toronto. Currently Tied with Nelson Cruz for most homeruns in the majors. What more could you want? I know he's not going to hit 80 homeruns, although that's the pace he is on, but after seeing the Red Sox flop on some pretty big free agent acquisitions, it feels good to see them nail a free agent pickup. Best of all, Hanley gets to do this with the team that originally drafted him. And what a Homecoming! :-)

Awesome!! We rocked Philadelphia 8-0! Just some thoughts after the game: 1. Hanley Ramirez is a STUD. Looks like we made the right decision there. 2. Dustin Pedroia finally looks healthy! Laser show lit it up for 2 solo shots! 3. Clay Buccholz looks to be having one of his 'Lights Out' seasons, which is exactly what we need. He is dog-awful when he's bad, but absurdly good when he's good. Looks like we caught him on an 'up' season! 4. Mookie Betts looked as advertised. Methinks, we have our leadoff hitter of the future. Looks like Ellsbury but with more power early. It took a while for Ellsbury to develop to more than a slap hitter. Betts is a keeper! I know he's going to have ups and downs, as all rookies do, but allow me to over-react today! 5. Not related to the game but, Porcello signed to a 4 year 80m dollar extension, is he really worth 20m per year? I'm hoping that contract doesn't blow up in our face. 6. Ortiz didn't have the best game, but supportive of his new teammates. 7. We've got offense! If we can get the pitching, we'll be just fine. 8. Just the cherry on top - Stankees start the season with a loss to the Jays. Tanaka got shelled. Great! We're #1 in the AL East. Let's keep up the great work, Let's go Red Sox!!!

Some are saying, if he came from the United States he would have been the #1 overall pick in the draft. So, I have no problem with the Red Sox spending money for a 19 year old they feel can be a top class, future impact player. I feel like the penalty for signing international players is way too steep though. Really, dollar for dollar tax penalty? Kinda unfair there. If you want to limit the ability to sign international players, maybe you should have a separate draft for them?? But the monetary penalty is pretty darn heavy! I'm pretty excited to have Moncado joining the Red Sox though. Apparently our scouts love him. So I'll just have to trust our scouting on this one.

We need a top of the rotation leader in the pitching staff. An Ace. But can we afford to land one before the season starts?

Although our farm is highly touted, Who has our farm team actually produced though over the past 2-3 years? Xander - still a big questionmark, Bradley Jr - can't hit ML pitching at all, Vazquez - great glove, mediocre bat, Middlebrooks - shipped off as a bust. I can't think of anybody. This isn't like last time we had championship hopes when we promoted studs like Pedroia, Ellsbury, Lester, Buccholz all around the same time. PS yeah Buccholz isn't exactly a stud now, but he performed very well on occasion and looked like one earlier in his career.

Ooops. Who necro'd the 2013 thread? LOL. NM then. Anyone want to talk about 2015? Hopefully we have a thread for that somewhere...

I guess trading a young power hitter for a projected #3 pitcher is considered a good deal because Cespedes only had 1 year left on his contract. But I would normally have preferred to keep the everyday player unless we could have packaged him to get a better pitcher. In the end we took what the market gave. The rotation has a lot of questionmarks. Who can emerge to be the #1 guy? A huge question. I don't know if we even plan to address that issue before the season starts but right now we have no ace on the squad. Maybe Cherington is praying/hoping that Buchholz has a good year? He's either really really good or really really awful.

I think they are around an 80-85 win team right now. Which means we will be mediocre and likely finish just outside the playoffs. If they sign/trade for an ace I can see them jumping to a 90+ win team. And that should be enough to make the playoffs.

Merry Christmas all. Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is for the Red Sox to land the next Pedro Martinez. please make it so! ;-)

I'd be happy if Joe Kelly could become as good as Derek Lowe - a solid #3 on a contending roster. Only time will tell if he can reach that level.

Just shows you how much Middlebrooks' value has bottomed out. He needs a fresh start somewhere else. The arrival of Sandoval meant the end of the Middlebrooks era. At least Hanigan gives us some value defensively. Maybe... it might make Vazquez expendible if we plan on pairing Swihart with Hanigan in the near future. One young offensive catcher + 1 vet defensive catcher.

Let's see if Porcello can even play in Fenway first before throwing around contract figures like 5/100. Lester pitched better than anyone currently remaining on the staff and we only offered him 4/70. In hindsight the Lackey deal was a good contract. The problem was that he sucked for the first couple of seasons and didn't prove his worth till the tail end of his contract. But Lackey had a much bigger and better body of work with the Angels than Porcello has shown thus far in his career.

Ok let's take Sale out of the discussion then. Replace his name with Cueto maybe. Who else is available that would make sense? This article sums it up nicely. If we land an ace, we look elite. If we don't we'll probably finish middle of the pack and no postseason. http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/12/11/now-time-for-red-sox-get-ace/EF6VSpODKeBbjwe9q9fK9M/story.html Trade possibilities http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/12/01/red-sox-have-countless-options-trade-market/k77Ae3e1CWW3dPOOpSp4LK/story.html

Napoli is a good 5-6 hitter. Don't see the point of moving him just for moving him. What would anyone even give back in return that would be worth taking his 20-25 HRs out of the lineup?