sk7326

TL DR version ... If the Red Sox want to get a look at Moncada or (less likely but worth asking because we know Dombrowski is) Kopech - they can add them to the 40-man anytime. They would be playoff roster eligible because of injury replacements.

Kimbrel has been striking out guys at a lights out rate - it's life as a reliever, your bad outings look worse. It is an inherently volatile gig. Barnes is more useful in the position he is right now because he is capable of getting more than 3 outs. The closer job is a bit too limiting.

This question I think is in regard to postseason eligibility

This reasoning is sound. But given how many on boards like this snivel about why this organization cannot find good (sniff!) pitching in the minors ... there's your answer. Can't have it both ways. My favorite part of the trade was one place where I read pointing to his 4+ ERA at Greenville as evidence he wasn't that good - which was a bit of a howler.

You can replace guys on the DL provided they did not get on the 60-day DL after September. It's how Francisco Rodriguez was added prior to the 2002 playoffs for the Angels.

They were both good prospects - neither worked out ... it happens. Considering the Red Sox were practically giving them away - to get something with a reasonable probability of return was good. Almost all coverage of the 2011-12 seasons in retrospect was mind numbingly stupid.

I had no opinion on the fire sale - Cherington did a good job making it somewhat adequate return ... but it did not suddenly open up budget or create any magic for 2013. Victorino's miracle season and the team just being healthy for once had more to do with it than anything.

He left - but they hired his right hand man, who had been his right hand man since the Miami days. So it might not have been as simple as a rebuke of his work there. I suspect it was simply that his successor was cheaper and they wouldn't have to change the infrastructure.

Given what the Yanks got - almost certainly too much

Bunk. The acquisitons were made possible because the Red Sox - who have a mint erected on Yawkey Way - decided it was possible. They wanted to clear payroll - which is a fair priority for an org that likes making money (e.g. all of them). I do give Cherington a lot of credit - that what was an ownership mandated fire sale actually got them a couple of reasonably good arms - they were able to turn the deal into an (at the time - which is all you can really look at given imperfect information) acceptable baseball deal is a credit to the GM. Now neither De La Rosa and Webster worked out (in particular they kept deluding themselves into thinking Webster could start instead of developing him as a reliever) ... that happens, but that was not the sort of deal where you should be able to get a couple of Top 100 sort of prospects.

Just a phenomenal athlete figuring out his superpowers before us. Teams draft guys like him in the 4th and 5th round (multi-sport ath-a-letes, who play baseball, but who have not played a lot of baseball) and hope that moving full time to baseball unlocks magic - it is nice to see it happen here.

I don't care if they sign him - but he lacks the flexibility needed to be a quality set-up person, as well as (now) the stuff. With the rotation injuries piling up, signing him is better than nothing - but just barely.

It's not that it was goofy or not goofy - it's just that it simply didn't matter (as long as he was not batting 9th). And for the most part it hasn't. Betts is really f'in good - and that was true in April also.

I just don't see any high leverage place where I'd use him.

I don't see a situation where Papelbon can be remotely helpful. He has little experience in uncontrolled situations and he was awful this season.

He's great anywhere on a baseball diamond. Definitely a triumph of scouting - and the Sox amateur staff actually knowing a kid's makeup and betting on it to get him in the 5th round.

Well with Detroit he had an aging team with no real upside - and the team was allowed to bottom out to create their window starting in 2006. (his early Detroit teams were some of the worst of all time) And he made the moves (most notably the Andrew Miller for Miguel Cabrera one) which cemented a significant championship window. He made some shorter sighted moves after that - due to ownership priorities - and was never full able to figure out the bullpen construction thing ... but it is hard to go against what he has accomplished. The key thing for him in Boston is that he is where the buck stops. The Red Sox have significantly simplified their decision authority vis a vis baseball matters - and that helps a lot. IF the Sox over the longer term can continue to keep the smart folks from the past decade here, then you could have the best of all worlds. Dombrowski has had a solid year - not a disaster by any stretch, but not coming up aces like Epstein's 2003 or anything. But that they did roll the dice on Benintendi as opposed to overpay for a warmed over Jay Bruce is encouraging.

If you want some actual snark ... Usually the pitcher the Sox would use in this case would be Wake. Perhaps Farrell thought there was a link between knuckleballs and baserunning skillz.

This ... I do hope Frank Thomas getting in helps all of this out (he played 1B for a while - badly, but DH'd a lot too). I think both guys are HoF worthy, and maybe Ortiz should get in because of the postseason TV clips and the titles. That stuff is totally fine. I have no problem with DH having a very high offensive standard (because they are specialists with only one way to impact the game). But to have an embargo on players who did that as their primary vocation does not really make sense.

Of course. The only criticism I'd have is why the starters do not have that comfort - why it is not part of the coaching. When you have the tiny bench the 13 man staffs of this day and age requires, being able to pinch run is something which would actually be useful.

.873 OPS over 7 series vs .962 over 17 series. Ortiz has produced more memorable moments than any player I can remember, and he had lots of chances to do so - he also was legitimately bad in 4 of the 8 pennant chases he was part of. But the peaks are remarkable - and very well should get him into the Hall with the other stuff. The Mariners were outstanding for a lot of their time there - just couldn't beat the Yankees in October, something which happened to a lot of teams.

It helps to have better teammates than your opponent. It is funny how narratives like "putting them on your shoulders" persists despite all the insistence on ideas like "chemistry", "clubhouse" and "coming together as a team".

I am the first to consider it - and I've always noted he was the better player (you can't unsee Ortiz' dip in 2009). But Ortiz has many more narrative points, while also being a darn good DH. So him getting in first is defensible - and ultimately good for Martinez as it would validate the DH as a HoF worthy job (as well it should be).

I think that mattered less. LF was doable between Holt, Young, Hill and Shaw and Ramirez (just wanted to see if you were reading the last one). If Benintendi were expected to have Christian Vasquez' bat, the position of need would be staffed another way. Playing LF at Fenway itself is something which stands outside of being a good outfielder. Carl Crawford is a primo example here. Only way to do it is to do it.

They ran out of pitchers, that's it. That is a GM/spaghetti monster problem. 2011 was not Tito's best year. But 2010 might have been - so the idea that it all went awry that quickly is batty.