marklmw

Is there a possibility that the Sox did make a run for Darvish ... I do not know one way or another. I do not know if the bids are sealed or if the clubs show up and bid against each other. Maybe the Sox pull out of Tanaka imo adding Tanaka is the best way to improve an already good team and assuming that Ellsbury is leaving he would be a nice addition. Tanaka is in his prime while some think that Ellsbury will be in the downside of his career.

This is exactly my point Bellhorn. The Sox have a great ownership group and maybe one of the few groups in MLB where they generate significant income from other sources. To continue this discussion lets assume that the reports are true and it is ownerships goal to keep payroll beneath the luxury tax number ... maybe this is something important to ownership and the average fan knows little about from an overall accounting standpoint. How about we base our discussions on this to be the goal and that we have x dollars to spend on payroll each season and that the Sox want to put the best product on the field for their fans while keeping under this cap. And lets leave the posting fee as another expense that ownership hopes to get a fair return on ... like adding seats over the Green Monster. Sure Darvish seems underpaid and he is but only because the posting fee significantly eats into his earnings. Japanese players are paying for their price of freedom. His next contract he will not have to share with the organization that he leaves. This is why Tanaka's actually salary might be closer to 60 / 6. for the very fact of what Darvish is being paid. Sort of the reverse of the case Boras is making for Ellsbury with Crawford.

To be perfectly honest I am tired and weary from talking about the posting fee over and again. I have read in many places where it is the objective of ownership to keep payroll under the luxury cap and I am fairly certain that the Sox make money when doing so. Paying a posting fee for Tanaka is like discussing if it is smart of ownership to buy a newspaper.

Yeah ... Ownership are a bunch of dummies. They own Liverpool AC, a NASCAR team, NESN, The Boston Red Sox and who knows what else. I think that they made their money firstly by not loosing the money that they have made. Ownership will not purchase the services of Tanaka if it does not make good business sense.

If it is ownerships goal to keep below the luxury tax threshold than the actual contract is what we need to be concerned about. If the Sox were to land Tanaka I seriously doubt they will keep both Dempster and Peavy.

Great news

The numbers might be a bit high. probably closer to 120M 60M posting and 60/6 contract.

Tanaka will most likely sign for Yu Darvish kind of money which is around 10M per. Less than Dempster, Peavy for 2013. Lester will be 30 in January and 31 by 2015 season ... depending on his 2014 season there is no telling what he may go for. By 2015 Lester might not be in managements long term plans.

Of Course he can.

He would not be told ... he would be signing a contract for mega dollars and the contract would be prohibiting him from playing in WBC.

2011 Numbers for Mike Trout go as: AB=123 Avg. = .220 OBP = .281 2013 Numbers for JBJ go as: AB = 95 Avg. = .189 OBP = .280 You really need to relax on JBJ. He is hit for decent average and OBP at AAA level. He will be fine. No need to pay Jacoby 20M per when JBJ can fill in at 500K.

This lineup will still produce plenty of offense. Grab Tanaka and deal Dempster and we are good to go.

Thanks MVP ... I thought I read the 11th somewhere.

I'm not buying any of these players. If I did it would be Beltran for 2 years. no ... I don't want him either.

I thought that the players had until Nov. 11th. I think that if Drew and Napoli accept the QO's it will be all that management could ask for. Obviously it will not make WMB all that happy but such is life. Fans had high hopes for WMB and as said many times here they may have over-projected his abilities. Let's home that he has a great year which will give us flexibility when dealing with Drew and Nap's after 2014.

One condition I would have in his contract is that the only team he pitches for is Boston ... period.

Counting pitches isn't all that hard.

I would enjoy having Drew for 33/3. If he is still playing well in the 3rd year perhaps extend him another 1 or 2 at that time.

Middlebrooks could not have had a worse 2013 campaign. If you think that Napoli struck out a lot Middlebrooks had 98K with only 20BB ... he was striking out 5 x's for every BB ... Napoli was much better with 187K and 73BB ... he was striking out a mere 2.5 x's for every BB. Napoli's OBP was .360 which is respectable ... WMB was .271 which is unacceptable.

If I am a coach I am not going to blow out a kids arm for the sake of a title.

Good point ... that plus if you subtract out the concussion his WAR would project higher. Folks had no issue when Youk was playing 1B there is no reason why Middlebrooks could not do it as well. I think that Middlebrooks would be able to play 1B as well or better than Napoli. There are so many moving parts right now with 3 QO's floating ... things will become more clear come Monday.

I think that Ross / Lavarnway can be a short term solution until proven otherwise.

Ellsbury is not coming back so we still have his 20M in the bank.

What is the thinking of these high school baseball coached in Japan? Very strange indeed.

JBJ will be fine ... if he were with another club we would be trying to get him. We have him ... be happy and relax ... Bogaerts and JBJ are Boston's future and there are more to come from the farm in the next 2 years. Ellsbury is long gone and we wish him well.