Bellhorn04

More like $80-85 million in fact...

The Phillies are obstinate f***s. They haven't even traded Cliff Lee yet.

My concern is that they get boxed into a position where they make moves they shouldn't make, like trading too much to get Hamels. Once Lester and Scherzer are off the board (assuming they're not ours) Ben has to pull a few rabbits out of the hat.

Regardless of what moves they make, we also need one or two of the starter prospects to develop. We've built up a big enough pile of them.

A higher AAV, that's correct.

Agreed, but doesn't the word risky apply to almost every free agent signing of any significance now?

Big Papi has been making a lot of Lester-related comments recently, all hoping he comes back, of course, but one of the comments was that Lester was 'devastated' about being traded.

Here is all we know about the Red Sox initial negotiations with Lester: they made him an offer of 4 years for $70 million. On April 17, 2014, Red Sox COO Sam Kennedy said the following on the Dennis & Callahan show: “You have to remember, we’re starting from a place where the Red Sox, from John Henry on down to Jon Lester, want to make a deal. That’s the starting place. I think everybody feels good about that,” Kennedy said. “The problem with negotiations and details from baseball negotiations getting into the public domain when you have a leak like we did this past week related to this deal is one data point gets into the media, gets out there, gets dissected. I can tell you there are lots of other data points related to this negotiation that are not in the public spotlight, in the media. All I’ll say is that Ben Cherington, Jon Lester, Larry Lucchino, our ownership group will continue to work on this. And it’s clearly best when baseball discussions are kept private, and then baseball decisions are made public. That’s been our philosophy. “Do we want to see Jon Lester in a Red Sox uniform for a long, long time? Absolutely, yes. As a fan, I hope that he is with us for a long, long time. We’ll see where things go over the coming weeks and months. But I’m hopeful that we do end up getting something done there.”

Yes, I'm sure they're trying. But as it stands right now they seem to be in a pretty bad position. If they can't afford Lester, they obviously can't afford Scherzer either. Then you move on to Shields and lower tier FA's. If you want to trade for an ace you have to be prepared to surrender top prospects. It does raise the question of what their plan was for the 2015 rotation going back to the start of 2014. They must have had some sort of plan right? I mean, they felt good enough about things to kick Lackey away for Kelly and what remains of Craig.

Buchholz will definitely not be #1, but I think there are other scenarios that might piss you off too.

You're right about all that. If Lester does go elsewhere, I'm sure we'll get 'the other side of the story' from the Sox FO.

I'm sure they'll address it. However, will they be able to put themselves in as good a position as they would have been if they had signed Lester in the spring for say 6 years/$135 million?

Or unless the only way they can adequately fill out the rotation is by giving up a pile of prospects, perhaps.

You're expecting A-Rod and Teixeira and Beltran to bounce back to their career averages?

It's now being reported that the mystery team is the Dodgers.

Trading Cespedes for Porcello doesn't seem like such a bad idea to me.

I'm not as negative as Fred but I have to say I'm getting a bad feeling about the pitching situation. A lot of people think Lester is gone to the Cubs or the Giants. And meanwhile, it sounds like the Dodgers are working out a deal for Hamels.

And Lester went out and had himself the classic 'contract year', best of his career. As did Andrew Miller.

I read that Lester wants 6/$150. It'll be interesting if both the Sox and Cubs say they'll give him that and it comes down to a choice between the teams.

Reportedly working on a trade with Dodgers for Kemp.

Is Detroit actually making Price available? Seems to me they'd be holding onto him for dear life with Scherzer going, Verlander off a bad year etc.

All the more reason the Sox have to sign Lester.

What the heck? You don't think Panda can maintain .275-.290 with 15+ HR and thus also be a 'productive big leaguer'? No, I know, he's going to turn into the Goodyear blimp and just float away.

Would what Detroit gave up for Price be a comp to what Cincy would expect for Cueto?

You too? I know some people are sick of me talking about Nava. Let me try to approach this a little differently. It's my understanding that the Red Sox, under the philosophy of Bill James and Moneyball and all that stuff, place a high value on OBP. Nava was 2nd on the team in that stat in 2013, and 3rd in 2014. I would think they would be reluctant to dish off one of their top OBP guys, especially one who makes jacksquat, especially in light of the offensive struggles last year and the 'new emphasis on offense' and the various health and inexperience issues surrounding our 2015 outfield.