cp176

I am in the minority camp of thinking that they have and will have all of the money that they need to get the players that will help them win. I am sure that they have numbers that they don't want ti exceed. Call it a budget if you like, I don't. I am much more concerned with them wasting contracts on players that will remain on the team for X number of years due to the nature of guaranteed contracts. If they are going to block a younger better player by hiring a slob then they need to eat the contracts or do some trading. I was not totally opposed to extending Porcello. I just think that they gave him too much. Hind sight makes Sandoval's contract look bad. The Ramirez signing came with questions from day one. Their "budget" won't be the cause of them not being successful. Their success or lack thereof will be determined by who they want on the field every year. I really hope they can make some decisions that at least look really good from the beginning. I don't think that it will have anything to do with how much money we think they do or don't have. They have the money.

It is also possible that he has realized that being the GM is just not a job for him. There isn't much worse during your working life than doing a job you just don't enjoy doing.

I guess the answer is obvious. Most of the people posting here are realists.

Is there someone on here who truly thinks that we can work a trade for an ace without moving at least one of our big four - Betts, Bogaerts, E-Rod, or Swihart? If there is someone who feels this way, I guess I missed their postings. I think most know that to get you have to give. The trick is to move the pieces that can be replaced without causing major problems. My bet=Swihart.

Package up Owens with Swihart and one other and you get a pretty good possible swap group with somebody.

I agree. Something big has to happen within the next year or two though if the likes of Moncada, Guerra, Devers, Benintendi, and Margot continue to progress. They are young as a group but some of them aren't all that young. I'm really still not sold on JBJ and Castillo long term and as much as I admire Pedroia, what do you do with your top propect in Moncada? All kinds of packages could be put together but I am with you on the Mets probably not dealing with us.

Trying to deal Swihart in a package excluding Betts, Bogaerts and E-Rod is realistic. Might not happen but it is a possibility.

If I had to make the choice between signing a free agent like a Price or Grienke long term or trading for a Sale, Gray, or Harvey, as long as my big 3 of Betts, Bogarts, and E-Rod were protected I would trade for the youth yesterday. Thank goodness it isn't either or and that I'm not the one making the decisions!

If Hanley Ramirez comes back and plays a decent first base and provides some pop in the lineup I will be ecstatically happy. I'm no Hanley hater, I just don't see enough there to get me to excited. He has had some decent seasons for sure but I would not call his career a model of consistency. With him playing any field position the risk of injury seems to be just about as good as Buchholtz's. But, I do think he will be back. I don't think they will release him and I don't think that he will be highly sought after by anyone else. He certainly has the potential to hit. If it is with us, i hope he gets it done.

Do I get to take a shot at this one. I don't think that it was you he was talking about. It is obvious that we don't all share as much optimism as you do when looking toward the future but you don't express yourself in a mean spirited and nasty way. By the way - 2 new guys at the top and a different look in the bullpen and I'm with you on the 90 win potential.

I don't think that this great debate centers just around Price. Others out there will come with a similar price tag.

There is a very good chance that you might be right on this one. I certainly would not bet my own money against your position. The key for me would be the potential for that great success over the next three years. I would like to see them take that risk. That being said, I also would like to see them explore all options to improve their pitching via the trade market. There will not be room on the roster for all of the young talent that we have coming along if it is as good as advertised.

We all know that most of the contracts are ridiculous. Nothing new there. You are absolutely right - I would not like the size of the contract but signing Price makes sense to me. He would fill a need that should have been filled last year. I have a hard time accepting the logic behind signing Ramirez. Actually I didn't and still don't accept it. I am happy for you that signing him was a solid move. Trust me, I would feel the same about signing anyone to a huge contract if they were a position player who had to change their position in order to play. I do have faith in the organization. Signing a top of the rotation pitcher represents an entirely different situation to me.

We do have some good players in the organization and everyone seems to be giving Ben credit for this. He was allowed to walk because of what he did not do. I think we all give him some credit. To say that he left us with a "golden" team set up for sustained success is going just a bit over the top. To get to 85 wins they still have work to do.

How old is Greinke? I like him too for about a 3 year contract. Don't see that happening.

I know that you are a serious person so I will just leave it alone. I do not think that it is even a remote comparison if you are talking any conceivable connection between Ramirez and Price. The Ramirez signing was questioned not just by the fan base. I think that you know that. If a top of the rotation guy had been signed, Ben might still be here. The Ramirez sign would still look bad. It was certainly questionable last spring.

Extending Porcello to big money on the hope that he becomes (note the optimism) something he has never really shown signs of being was a big risk. Signing Ramirez was just a huge risk by itself for all of the reasons previously beaten to death. Signing Sandoval at least made some sense. We needed a third baseman, we got one. Even a fat one was better than what we had going in. Each of these signing s would have made a little more sense to me if the Red Sox had then done what we thought they would do. Sign a real pitcher. A little numbness would have been ok if they had backed it hope with an actual common sense move. They did not. This off season I think that we will see them bring in a true top of the rotation guy. Someone who has actually been there. If they do this, we will all have to just suck it up and live with the fact that they have finally done something that at least going in to spring straining makes some sense. If it doesn't work out, so be it. Those types of chances makes sense to take.

I actually enjoyed watching Mickey Lolitch just as much. Pitchers are tougher when they have to hit. Throw Marichal right in there with Gibson, Koufax, and Drysdale. I also just read that the great Dean Chance recently passed away. We had just enough to beat him in 67.

I'm with you for sure here. I don't care how much of the in coming money they spend at all. It would be nice to think that when huge chunks are spent it isn't akin to just flushing the toilet. There is one hell of a difference between spending the money on players that you hope might perform better and remain healthier than they ever have before and signing the likes of Price and or Grienke. For the record, if they choose to waste $ on long term contracts, once again their money. Problem with the Sox is that they tend to let it stand in the way of their younger and potentially better players. I love them but not enough to worry about the size of their payroll. they raise ticket prices to the point of being ridiculous = me staying home.

Thanks for that post. How about Gibson knocking Clemente down every time. Bautista has got to be smart enough to know that sooner or later he is going see some pay back by someone on the mound who is just as tough as he is. It is part of the game. Much like that body numbing "slide" into second, we hate those guys unless they play for us. When they play for us , it is a whole different ball game.

Much of this discussion centers around what constitutes a "star". Ramirez, Sandoval, and Porcello are not in the same category as Price. Their contracts were ridiculous regardless of what market trends seem to be. I won't be back in Fenway until the product on the field might justify raising ticket prices as they have continually done year after year.

I had forgotten about the size of his contract. I don't like it anymore now than I did then. I think that you are right. He might be hard to move. I'm tired of the potential tag applied to someone his age. Benintendi and Margot may both be much more consistent produces sooner than anyone thinks.

If JbJ and Castillo are still around come spring, 2016 will determine whether or not they continue to play in boston. It is possible that we have players in our system who can give us more. That being said, no one tops JBJ in the field and Castillo still looks "potentially" very good. If they don't get it done early though, the younger better players will push them aside. Personally if one or even both of them were traded, I think that we would still be ok.

I am not a Maddon fan in particular but I would not have been disappointed if he had come to Boston. When I look at these Cubs, I keep thinking Lester, Theo, Rizzo, and Maddon. Good luck to them.

I really hope that Sale, Harvey, and Gray will be the types of top of the rotation guys they go after. Through free agency, Price than Greinke I hope will be the top two targets.