vjcsmoke

If looks had anything to do with baseball ability, I'd actually be worried. Glad we didn't cut that Pedroia guy cos he didn't 'look the part'. The main thing I take out of this move is that the Red Sox scouts love Cuban defectors. And so far they have been very successful in MLB, whether it be Yasiel Puig, Jose Abreu, or our own Yoenis Cespedes. Hopefully this is more of a good thing for us. Considering we only gave up $$ to acquire Castillo, I don't see much downside. As long as he plays average to above average he will have been worth his salary of ~10m per year.

Well yes, if you assume that EVERY SINGLE outfielder WON'T PAN OUT. Of course it would be a mess. We could bring in Giancarlo Stanton and it's possible a truck could run over his foot and he never plays a meaningful inning with the Red Sox. So the Red Sox should throw in the towel because any move they make could backfire or the player won't adjust to the limelight of Boston, right? I also find it ironic that out of all the Red Sox outfielders, you have the most confidence in Daniel Nava who as you put it, is a platoon player at best. The one thing that I do know - last to first can happen. And so can first to last. Just because we've experienced both extremes doesn't mean that I'm giving up on the Red Sox before the next season even starts. A LOT of moves can still be made at the Winter meetings, in the offseason, in free agency, and even during the preseason.

With these new additions here is how I see the red sox defensively: LF Cespedes CF Bradley Jr RF Victorino/Nava 3B Middlebrooks SS Bogaerts 2B Pedroia 1B Allen Craig/Napoli C Ross/Vazquez Supersub -- Brock Holt DH - David Ortiz That's actually not a bad team for 2015.

There's a number of teams rumored to be asking for Lester, in particular the Orioles and Mariners. But I think we need a star outfielder as a principal in return or a few high quality prospects who might be ready to contribute at the MlB level as soon as next year to pull the trigger on a lester trade. http://www.mlbdailydish.com/2014/7/28/5946547/red-sox-trade-rumors-jon-lester-deal-looking-more-likely-with-orioles-mariners-interested

I like him. Cheap talent in a down year for the Sox. Feed him some more experience and let him ride in a top 5 rotation role. I would sell high on Peavy and maybe one of our top 2 closers to either restock the farm or get a much needed veteran OF bat.

It might take a couple of prospects added on the Red Sox side, but the main principals in the trade would be Bogaerts and Stanton. The Red Sox have a desperate need for an elite outfielder who hits with power. Stanton is a 30/100 player. Bogaerts however plays a more valuable position at SS (which he is not playing now atm), and potentially could be a better player than Stanton 3-5 years down the road. But Stanton is already that star player right now. So put yourself in Ben Cherington's shoes, do you do the trade? http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/04dbaf05a3df879bc89226d2511bf2c11533a2d5/c=0-249-1926-1699&r=x513&c=680x510/local/-/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2013/09/03/1378257172000-XanderBogaertsMiLB.jpg vs http://lownaway.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/gio-stanton.jpg Red Sox Bogaerts-Stanton speculation: http://www.csnne.com/boston-red-sox/buckley-i-would-give-bogaerts-stanton

Sell high on Peavy. The Red Sox need a 1st baseman and the Cardinals need a starting pitcher. Now is the time for the Red Sox to cash in some assets as the trade deadline approaches. We might have to exchange some prospects as well, but I feel the main pieces in a Peavy-Craig deal would benefit both teams.

Would you like to recant your position on Stephen Drew now? Official Stats: Stephen Drew 2014 .136 BA .167 OBP .247 SLG .414 OPS Official Stats: Brock Holt 2014 .311 BA .359 OBP .425 SLG .784 OPS I don't see a pumpkin here. And 250 at bats is a significant enough sample size to say that Brock Holt has earned himself a regular spot in the starting lineup until he shows otherwise.

Again they have NOTHING to do with each other. Different franchises. Different sports. Even Different countries. I sure hope that I have the good fortune of being INSULTED by a 20m dollar per year offer someday. That statement is pure hyperbole.

1. I don't see how Luis Suarez has anything to do with the Red Sox. 2. 20m for a #3/4 pitcher is blatantly and egregiously OVERPAID. 3. And Henry Owens would not be and won't expected to carry a heavy load in his rookie season, so this argument is moot. The Red Sox are in the business of winning and have better options than trying out an untested pitcher for a lot of innings. You're the only one I'm seeing who thinks that Henry Owens would be our only alternative to Lester if he walked. Honestly, I expected to see a Lester extension done sooner, but if his agent is asking for crazy money I could see them letting him walk. Lester is certainly above average, but has he proven himself to deserve Ace money? No, not yet. This season will be a big indicator to see if he can be that Ace, franchise pitcher.

Official according to who? And what has Tampa Bay done to prove they should be frontrunners to win the division? I just want to see two things - Red Sox win the division and get into the playoffs. Everything after that is gravy... Yankees miss the playoffs, and watch their fanbase implode! ;-)

Except that Carp can backup 1st base legitimately and Nava can't... We held onto Carp for a reason. Unless he is looking horrible in ST I think he makes the team. The only real question is what to do with JBJ. I don't mind if he starts out in the minors. I don't mind if he stays with the team to start. I trust in our manager to make the right call. And it's not just the stats. It's the player's approach at the plate. How he sees pitches, whether he remains disciplined and focused and knows what he is doing each at bat. A player can put up some good cuts and just be unlucky, striking the ball hard directly to fielders, etc. But I think our manager and scouts just don't think Bradley is ready yet to handle pitching at the ML level. It doesn't hurt to give him more seasoning at the AAA level where he also gets to play on a regular basis.

Tell us how you REALLY feel!! LOL. Seriously, is it that much more fun to bury these kids before giving them a chance to work it through? Youngsters always have growing pains. Particularly for the pitching position, it usually takes a while before the 'light switch' goes on at the big league level. Anyways how are XB, Middlebrooks, and JBJ looking guys who are personally observing the ST?

I think it will be Victorino. You can't clog the bases with the leadoff spot.

I think this 'veteran respect' thing is overrated in terms of ordering your lineup. You set your lineup as best as possible to WIN GAMES. Not to stroke anybody's ego. That being said, I think JBJ is too unproven to start at anywhere but the 9 hole, IF he makes the starting lineup. I think that XB starts batting in the #6 hole, but I think he easily has the talent to eventually take over the #3 position if he plays up to his immense superstar potential. To me, XB is like another Hanley or Nomar just waiting to happen. If that best case scenario happens we are probably looking at-- 1. Victorino 2. Pedroia 3. XB 4. Ortiz 5. Napoli 6. WMB 7. Gomes or Nava 8. AJ Pierzynski or Ross 9. JBJ or Grady Sizemore

Yup, Cherington is clearly despicable. How dare he can Valentine, bring in Farrell, and win us a World Series Championship all within a couple of years of being hired? Yes we should all be Cubs fans instead. How dare Cherington overachieve like that and win the WS before Epstein did at his new gig!!? Good for you. I'm not throwing away a chance at the postseason just to watch some kids grow though. The rebuilding project already happened and we won a championship. You have to make another playoff push and just take your chances at glory. You don't pass up playoffs to watch youngsters grow. As for JBJ, I think he's not quite ready yet. If Grady can play at his former level, he is a starting caliber CF. I would hope for the latter to happen. That way we can bring JBJ on at a natural pace instead of forcing him into the starting lineup when he's not ready. If GS starts, then I see JBJ as backup CF/4th OF for us. The main guys I see ready to step up are XB first and foremost. That guy is a starter for us period. I am cautiously optimistic about Middlebrooks though. Still not convinced he can ever learn to hit a breaking ball. At the very least he has to learn to lay off them or he'll never amount to anything more than a .300 obp at the ML level. And that's not acceptable for a projected starter. I'm not excited about paying Drew a lot of money to be a 'utility infielder'. I mean how many UIFs will bank 6m+? That just doesn't make sense to me. We'll know a lot more by spring training where this team is heading. I hope we hear about a Lester extension soon and for 'not too crazy' money.

Thank you Dempster!! I was just thinking a while ago that we'd have to eat some of that money to move Dempster to another team. now it gets freed up all by itself. I think you save that money and use it when you've identified a prime player. As for Kemp, I would not give him a big contract. i'd consider giving an incentive-laden 'prove it' deal for 1 year. And then if he plays awesome, he is welcome to test the free agent waters after. The bigger question to me is what do we do about Ortiz? He says he wants a multi-year extension. To my mind, Giving him 2 years/32m would be ideal. But would he take that? I wouldn't go over 2 years. A 2 year extension would take him to age 40. The other thing I'm thinking is that with the Dempster money saved, now might be the perfect time to sign Lester to a long term extension. I just don't want to give crazy money ie not Kershaw type dough.

1. Ortiz will NEVER go to the Yankees. I think he would rather keep signing 1 year deals with the Red Sox until he doesn't want to play any more. 2. Jenny Dell and WMB is such a nonstory. I don't care who WMB screws. It's a shame she got canned just because of who ended up in her bed, but that's how it goes. At least she got 'reassigned' instead of outright fired. But if she lands WMB, I think her financial needs will be secure even if she ends up as ringside card girl down the road. 3. Whether WMB stays with the Red Sox depends on his ability/inability to handle big league pitching, and that includes breaking balls. WMB needs to be able to maintain an OBP north of .300 and an OPS of .750 to be worth holding a regular starting job.

I think signing Drew on the cheap makes sense. He can back up in the infield. All I know is that XB MUST START. He's got Hamley Ramirez upside. As for WMB, I just don't know. He could turn into quite a good 3rd baseman, or maybe his inability to hit the breaking ball could turn him into a bust at the ML level.

175m to be exact [155m contract + 20m posting fee]. And he doesn't have to be an ace to be an economic win for the Yankees. Why do you think they got guys like Ichiro, Kuroda, and in the past Matsui? The Yankees dominate the Japanese market now and Tanaka guarantees they will be relevant in Japan another 7 years even once Ichiro and Kuroda retire. The marketing benefits alone more than pay for the investment. As long as Tanaka is at least a solid #2-3 pitcher. The Yankees made a no-brainer deal to shore up their starting pitching while also assuring themselves of dominant Japan market-share.

Nobody knows. Tanaka might bust like Matsuzaka, who still had a couple of decent years before MLB batters figured him out and injuries caught up to him. Or, he might turn into a younger version of Koji Uehara which would be our worst nightmare. AKA the Yanks getting a guy with ridiculous stuff just entering his prime and signed for the next 7 years. A lot of differences in the game, from the ball, to mound height, etc. But the scary thing about Tanaka to me, is that he was suppressing batters at the tune of a 1.27 era when they were playing with an illegally JUICED rabbit-ball. He must have some pretty filthy stuff to make that happen!! Of course, since he plays for the enemy, I hope Tanaka turns into a colossal bust and his contract becomes an albatross for the Stankees. But I'm just not confident of that happening. We'll just have to see how this plays out. Even if Tanaka turns to be good, If Sabathia doesn't bounce back, the Yankees are still in trouble imo. Cos his contract would be a pretty heavy dead weight.

No it doesn't seem insane at all. His base salary is 750k. If he meets incentives that means he was good enough to earn the 6m. Besides which, it's not your money, so why do you care? I think this is a typical low risk high reward signing by BC. It definitely worked out with the initial Napoli signing and Drew signing. It might work out again with Sizemore. Sizemore used to be an elite CF in the bigs. If he regains his health, well he'd definitely be a better option than a raw/green JBJ. In Ben we trust. He's earned that much after pulling off 2013. Yeah I know he's not going to hit on basically ALL of his FA signings like he did in 2013. But let's give the man some credit and wait and see what happens. The Sox definitely needed another depth OF and they got a high upside, albeit injury prone OF on the cheap.

Unless she is 'sucking' away his power. I see no reason to 'get rid of' one or the other. LOL, what the heck is this forum now, one of those rumor mags? Who WMB dates is totally IRRELEVANT!!

I think you guys are too hung up on the innings pitched number. Hall of Fame AMERICAN Major Leaguers back in the day used to throw 400-500 innings in a season easily. Remember a guy named Cy Young? He pitched around 400 innings per season from age 24-29. Then pitched over 300 innings per season from age 30 to 42. Didn't retire until age 44. Over 7,300 IP over his career! http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/y/youngcy01.shtml Getting a little silly and exaggerated with the 'walking timebomb' descriptions. The dude just turned 26. Japanese pitchers don't seem to have career longevity issues. Just check out Hiroki Kuroda, pitching past his year 38 season already. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kurodhi01.shtml And our own Koji Uehara at the top of his game at age 39. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/u/ueharko01.shtml So chill with the exaggerations. From what I've heard, I expect Tanaka to be not the same pitcher as Darvish obviously. But if he's an upgraded, younger version of Kuroda who gives you 200+ ip a year with 3.xx era and 1.1ish whip would he be worth the money? Absolutely.

Chasing skirts? *raise eyebrow*