Lucienbel

I'd have to agree. The more and more I see the amount of money he's going to make the more and more I just want to laugh. As said, he's not a bad pitcher. He's going to get you a lot more wins than losses with a good offense behind him. This is definitely going to end up being a case of him making an outrageous amount of money because he's the best available and nothing more really. Definitely not the worst pitcher in the World, and I can't think of a team that would complain if they had him on their staff. I can think of a ton of teams that should be complaining if he were on their staff for that much money though.

It definitely seems like they're going to let Granderson go, especially with some decent outfielders going to be ready relatively soon. It'll be interesting to see what they do with Cano. That's a whole lot of production at a place that typically doesn't produce at all. They'd really have to get strong in a few other places to get that back if they were to let him go. Should be really interesting. The fact that there aren't a whole lot of amazing second basemen in the game really makes me think he'll end up getting some absolutely outrageous salary. There's a healthy amount of teams out there that would love to have him.

Exactly. This really isn't a bad move. The only reason it ends up an overpay is because of how the market shaped up, and for all of the people you could over pay he's far from the worst. Let the guy get on the field and see what he can do before complaining about him. From everything we have to on to this point in time, Victorino is the better player.

Still a lot of time left for some of these things. Not sure if he's a puppet or what....it seems that he may have been the puppet last year, but this year might be different. The deals he did sign kind of make me think that ownership has stepped back some. Overall, not a terrible Winter Meeting for him. Maybe a bit much money on Victorino, but even that isn't a horrible move.

Hit the nail on the head here. This was probably one of the worst moves the Sox made last year (well, worst move still effecting them in the long term). They had a guy that probably could have had an opportunity to close last year or this year, and completely screwed him up. It seems like Cherington/whoever had the idea of starting Bard was probably kicking themselves in the nads after Bailey went down. Especially once Bard's starts began going downhill faster than anyone could fix.

Platoon players are just what you said, platoon players. Therefore, I expect him to be platooning with someone who can hit righties.

Exactly. I could imagine him going back and playing ball with Francona as a manager again too. While I know the Yankees are in on him, I doubt they'd really want to take the risk of having another third basemen on the DL a month into the season.

While hunting accidents shouldn't be funny, I always do chuckle a little.

Pretty sure they did. On that note, I already have horrible images in my mind of how Dempster turns out. I'd really rather the Red Sox not be the team that gives him three years, even if that means having to figure out some sort of back up plan. On another note, glad to hear the Red Sox are still in on Swisher. Outfield could end up being pretty interesting. I suppose that would also give Iglesias the chance to play shortstop for a whole season without being too worrisome.

At this very point in time I'm certainly looking at him in a little more positive light than I did previously. He's still got time to screw it up though too.

Quite possible. I'm interested in who we could actually pull of given the situation. No real feelings on anyone at the moment.

Ross is still in play because of a possible Ellsbury trade...makes sense.

I'm personally a fan of this deal. Defensively he'll be a good fit in right field, and he'll be good as a number seven hitter. Still has a lot of speed, and seems to have a pretty good personality. Again, the Sox aren't tied down to him too long either. Not a terrible move at all.

This KC deal is starting to sound like it should take place in an ally way.

Greg Maddux was consistently right around 6.2 K/9 for his whole career, with a few years more than that. Still, he finished his career right around 6.1. If you can get the ground balls and keep it in the park like Buch did in 2010 you don't have to be a strike out machine. And since I always leave this as a disclaimer, in no way am I comparing Maddux with Buch, just saying you don't necessarily have to be a power pitcher to pitch at the top of a rotation.

I don't find it entirely odd he's signing offensive players this year and didn't last year. Last year he probably just expected A-Gon to pan out, Ells to be around longer, and numerous other things of the sort. After all the trades in stuff they're definitely in need of some offensive players that they weren't last year. Just seems like a vastly different situation....Punto and Shoppach weren't projecting to play a ton. Napoli certainly is projecting to play every day, and I suppose we'll see with Gomes.

Haren and Floyd/Garza would make me nervous, but if they can do it without giving up too much it is probably one of the better rotations they could have this year. Add a bat or two like they're trying and you're right, the team wouldn't be terrible in 2013. Especially if the above mentioned pitchers did pan out decent and stayed away from the DL.

Agreed. If you could get him some time down in the minors and see what happens there he wouldn't be a bad option at all. Likely, he'd be filling in if someone went down. Still, he has shown some flashes of good stuff, so if you can get him on a minor league deal you really wouldn't be gambling at all. That way you're only getting upside, and if it doesn't work out he can just go.

Ah, I was thinking in terms of what the White Sox would want in a trade. Sorry, should have clarified that.

While I certainly agree the bull pen was pretty strong last year, I do still expect them to bring in one or two guys. However, I highly doubt it'll be anyone to close games up. It seems a lot of people don't like Bailey, but with the trade investment they put into him I'd be he'll be around a while unless something drastic happens. It seems that the Red Sox might be interested in someone on a budget to pitch the 8th inning though....while Melancon was good, it was only at times. While Tazawa is capable, he certainly has more value elsewhere. Seems that there could be a tiny hole there that could possibly be filled internally, but it seems safer to fill it externally.

Agreed, and definitely a guy the team has been interested in for a while now too. I don't see their asking price for him being incredibly high either...he may be a gamble, but likely a pretty cheap one.

I'd also be pretty surprised. It seems like a bonus to signing Farrell was the fact that he had worked well with the pitchers in the past. Granted, he's not in that capacity anymore, I'm sure there's still a large amount of interest in him helping and giving input that he can too.

While I tend to agree that people can continuously try to find that fix in their mechanics and never actually find it, I think there is a valid argument in saying that Lester may have complications that can be fixed. I imagine that going through three pitching coaches, two managers, an established catcher, and all this team drama wouldn't really help anyone go out there and do their job the best they could. It is an individual performance, but it's tough to say that things going around you don't effect your individual performance some, in any aspect of life.

The Lester deal is interesting. I have had a lot of faith in Lester since he's been around and I still do really. In some ways I see how this trade could be beneficial, largely considering the "pitching" that Boston gets in return. At the same time, the rotation is largely unknown and it seems that Lester still has it in him to turn it around. At the same time, you keep Buchholz, who certainly has a good chance. This should certainly give some confidence in trading Lester. You continuously here how Buchholz can't continue doing what he's doing. In reality, I recall hearing the same thing about Greg Maddux, Derek Lowe, etc. etc. While not to say that Buchholz or any of the examples given are anywhere near the same level, I think Lowe and Maddux are great examples that you don't need to necessarily be the most intimidating or powerful pitcher in the game to win. For this reason alone Buch is certainly worth believing in. In my personal opinion, this is one of the tougher decisions that the Red Sox have had in recent memory. While Wil Myers is highly touted and almost as sure a prospect as anyone could acquire, he still hasn't shown anything yet. Lester has. At the same time, Lester hasn't show that he can bounce back from what has happened recently either. This certainly wouldn't be a positive move for the rotation either at a glance, but could allow a little bit more free money on the pay roll. I can see this move being a positive, assuming that whatever pitchers the Red Sox do pick up (be it through trades or free agency) are good, and assuming that the Red Sox will be able to use a tiny bit of that money saved from Lester (granted it's only...ha...only 10 million or so) to make good improvements either this year or next year. As I said above, it's a tough decision for me personally and I'm really torn either way. I guess since I grew up strongly believing pitching wins, and now believing that Lester can pitch in the future, I lean slightly toward keeping Lester, even if it seems like I completely argued against that after reading my post. It's always fun to argue with yourself.

I'm also going to agree. Way too soon to give up on him, and I see him still having some good years left in the future.