sk7326

The key thing here also is that when guys like Fred or whomever worry about the budget - the luxury tax is a choice. The Red Sox have room under the tax, but they can also go over - and for the Red Sox, the market forces make it very desirable to do so if the right guy is there. I hate the $/WAR argument since each franchise has its own values for that thing. But no doubt the Sox and Yanks $/WAR is very high, enough to make bold moves (not stupid ones obviously).

What is interesting about Sandoval when you watch him is that: 1. He is a good athlete. He is tubby, but the feet are nimble and the hands are good. He is a legitimately above average 3B. 2. He obviously lacks the patience Wade Boggs has. But what he does have is the same sort of plate coverage and willingness to use the whole field, at the expense of maximizing his natural power. He is not a huge HR guy, but as much of it has to do with his approach than anything. He could make a killing peppering the Monster.

If you look at the last 3 years, he was MVP caliber in 2013 (over just 86 games!) and good last year. The salary looks bad but given the surrounding economics it's fine. It's just money that would go in John Henry's pockets or somebody at Liverpool.

I'd say sign Ross and live with it. If they want a starting caliber guy (not a true excellent backup like Ross), Geovany Soto is there and a guy who might be up for a 1-year "rebuild value" sort of deal.

He might have been able to hit well enough to play as a catcher - but he was a poor catcher. And not a good enough hitter to play anywhere else. If his bat were Jose Abreu like, they could have found a spot for him - but it wasn't.

Relatively close in terms of performance to date. Zimmermann if 5 years younger. He was a co-#1 on the best team in the NL last year.

Strasburg or Jordan Zimmermann (short hitches on both, but you asked)

That is more an aspect of his FA timing than anything else. Moving from the infield to the outfield is rare but not unprecedented. (Biggio, Yount to name two) Moves to preserve value - whether an incumbent team comes up with the idea or a FA suitor ultimately makes little difference. It's the same risk-reward assessment.

Cespedes + XB gets you a James Shields level pitcher? 2 years of David Price cost the Tigers less.

Right now the planning with Betts is most likely thinking of him in a Zobrist or (if you are old like me) Tony Phillips. The position can be figured out later because he is a good enough athlete (with mature enough beisbol skills) to do a lot of things. The arm is not ideal for RF but the range is (at least for Fenway). I know it is fun to talk about Ramirez being signed to play SS but that is far fetched at best - this is not the 2007 model of Ramirez, and given his recent durability issues, moving off of SS was going to be a natural thing for him to volunteer.r

More like goodbye Cespedes and goodbye Victorino's starting gig. Betts and XB could be had for the right guy (I suspect Hamels alone for one might be it - but not much else). Otherwise they are in firm spots and you arrange the other deck chairs accordingly.

Not a lot of people talk about it in narrative-land, but his breaking down was central to a lot of what collapsed about the Red Sox in general. They have not been able to adequately replace him. He was one of the five or six best offensive players in the league for a couple of years.

All he has to be is what he is already ... an above average defender with good contact rates (which is hard to find) and good makeup. He is also still young enough to have a little bit of projection left. For the $/WAR (which applies more to Boston than other teams because of the market rewards), it is reasonable.

This seems unfair. One of the funny things fans say is "you can only evaluate a move after waiting to see if it works". But really, that is garbage. The only accurate evaluation of these moves is AT THE TIME YOU MAKE THEM, because all you have are percentages. You look at the Pierzynski signing at the time Cherington made it, what was he looking at: - A solid starter who was going to command a multiyear deal - A couple of near big league ready guys who were not quite there, but both looked like better prospects than the solid starter - Almost all free agent catching was some variation of meh What are the choices? Sign a bridge guy or take your shot with the not quite ripe kiddos. I'd have gone with #2, but it was not at all obvious. Cherington's move was one of the two sensible things to do - and it did not work out. Nobody could have expected the AJ signing to be as actively negative as it was.

There is some risk there - but the solution might be moving him off of the physically problematic job.

Indeed - signed to play LF and spot DH. He could play 3B if Sandoval doesn't work out. Also remember, Sandoval's deal (if it is only 5 years) means that the Red Sox will be paying $18M a year for his 29-33 years ... he has less age risk than most FAs. There are teams who would take that contract on.

If the Heyman tweet is accurate, getting Sandoval and Ramirez each for under $20M a year is a very strong haul. Panda in particular remains a trade asset if other stuff doesn't work out (in particular a solid chance that you are only getting a small part of his decline years)

How many of them have physically broken down playing said position - this is pretty clear. This is not asking prime Alex Rodriguez to move to 3B to accomodate an inferior player - this is a guy who will do what it takes to be a 600 PA dude again (and thus someone who can be paid like a guy who contributed 600 PAs). Ramirez in 2014 WAS a dropoff from Ramirez 2013. But Ramirez 2014 was more or less in line with his entire career, it was 2013 that was the outlier.

1. Ramirez' contract is not actually big money by 2014 baseball standards 2. Sandoval is interesting - poorer stats but in mostly pitchers parks. Overweight but a good athlete who is an above average defender and the youngest premium FA. I am conflicted. But this is more sensible than signing Brian McCann's beat up body for the length of time he is hitched up for.

He has told suitors he is ok moving off of SS. He physically cannot do it anymore. But the bat still plays at 3B and even LF. It is a smart first signing - gives a lot of options with the rest of it.

Means Cespedes is in play ... and that the Red Sox don't have to chase Sandoval indiscriminately. I still think the Giants will get Panda back.

Hanley pickup gives them options ... 3B or LF. Very good price for the productivity level - and his defense can only be helped moving off of short.

If Cherington worked magic a year ago, he did not become an imbecile overnight. I was on this board last offseason - most applauded his relatively restrained offseason - although intelligent minds differed on the Ellsbury business. (as it turned out, they were not necessarily wrong in not signing Ellsbury, but Bradley did not hold up his end of the deal) The AJ signing made sense as a contractual stopgap - they did not want to commit to anybody with the kids coming. The Drew re-signing made sense also (basically the bet was Bogaerts was better than any free agent 3B) though intelligent minds could disagree there surely. Mujica was a nothingburger (useful guy for what he is). Indeed the team DIDN'T insist that Bradley be in there hell or high water - that's why they gave Grady Sizemore's entrails a starting job over a good three weeks in Fort Myers. If anything, they should have done that - but they did not have a winning strategy for him. They got weak kneed with Bogaerts too. When you see how hopeless Pedroia was in his cup of coffee in 2006, there was proof that you are better off standing behind your evaluations than, say, listening to what talk show callers say or what a decrepit former MVP-sort did over a random month against future minor leaguers.

I am not sure there was a dollar value that would have gotten Lester to stay - but there was one which would have allowed him to walk away. Assuming the leaks are correct and the Sox offered Lester 6 years, that is enough to keep them in it. Once they committed to the sixth year, it means they will be a viable contender here.

For 1 year of Price? No way - and that is much more than what Detroit paid for 2 years of him. I like the idea, but not at that price.