sk7326
-
Posts
7,647 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Boston Red Sox Videos
2026 Boston Red Sox Top Prospects Ranking
Boston Red Sox Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits
Guides & Resources
2025 Boston Red Sox Draft Pick Tracker
News
2026 Boston Red Sox Draft Pick Tracker
Forums
Blogs
Events
Store
Downloads
Gallery
Everything posted by sk7326
-
there is value in all of that ... but it's a "nice to have" more than essential. What is essential is not making outs. Now, that being said - I wonder if there is a market gap for a team that DOES try to bring back the 1980s Cardinals. That is a fair question. The same way that with all these teams swinging for the fences, the Royals of 2015 (or the Sox of this year) not striking out suddenly has an edge.
-
Rings are what teams play for. At the same time - the playoffs are SO wild that you have to take a zen approach. I mean - the reason the Sox Curse always felt more authentic to me than the Cubbies one was that (since 1967) the Red Sox were usually really good. I mean, I've seen an 82-79 team win the World Series and a 116-46 team not able to make the World Series. You just hope you have a great month.
-
The Red Sox have one of the league's two best players entering free agency once he turns 28 ... free agents of that age and quality (assuming he is healthy) just don't hit the market that often. But the Red Sox will certainly be in a good position to do something.
-
It is proving a counterfactual which is hard ... certainly Cora has not hurt, and I think it is at least possible the young guys have benefited from him. I am more comfortable saying that once you add JD Martinez (and get a great season) to a team of young studs who all make leaps or mini-leaps ... you can improve a 93 win team.
-
If that happens it is because of ownership choices ...
-
He has a chance to realize the career that Fred Lynn's body prevented.
-
I think every team that signs a UFA to a long deal accept the back end will hurt - it is whether the front end can make the overall thing a net plus. With Martinez it is a clear yes.
-
Red Sox have graduations to deal with - we'll see what happens. Every team faces it.
-
Players should embrace their free agency - nothing wrong with that. The Red Sox will have a strong position as a bidder. I mean you work your butt off to be able to choose where you work ...
-
Also the wins aren't helping fill the 'dome. Tampa has to do a lot to make the market care. The Red Sox get a lot more bang for the win.
-
Betts will just turn 28 when he hits UFA-dom. 10 years is silly ... 6 is not. Or for that matter a long deal with a player option after 3 seasons. Bogaerts wiill just turn 27 when he hits UFA-dom. Same as above where the team probably has a bit more leverage. Benintendi is a non-issue Bradley will be almost 31 when he hits free agency - a long deal is a hard pass.
-
That is kind of simplistic. Fangraphs value is EXTREMELY context dependent - and heck, it varies during the season. Tampa's dollar per WAR is very low - though it can jump up if it is high enough. (tl;dr - Tampa has to pile up a lot of wins before anybody gives enough of a crap for them to move the needle financially) Boston's is higher. At the same time, the teams' own "replacement" is not the hypothetical R of WAR - but what they actually expect to be able to sign for the position. I mean, a "replacement player" is basically an "up and down" guy. Basically Bryce Brentz (for an outfielder).
-
Listen - I agree in principle that being the 2009 Yankees is less fun - though I suppose jacko would disagree there. If you categorize re-signing studs our farm system signed and developed as buying a title - I have to disagree. After all - what is the point of the Red Sox doing stuff right then.
-
The surcharges could hamper ownership's willingness to pay ... but that is their decision. The draft pick penalty is relatively meaningless.
-
They will need some of that ... but really, the Red Sox don't actually need the farm to produce worker bees ... there are lots of ways to find Mitch Morelands. The Red Sox want the farm to produce STARS ... and you can see that in how Dombrowski has handled the farm. He has aggressively managed the stars and used the other guys to figure out other parts. Teams like Tampa and Oakland is more likely to use the "non-star" tier of players as well. Dombrowski does not have a 2020 problem. John Henry does. The choice of signing guys who are already good ENTERING their prime is not a difficult one. It's just a matter if ownership wants to take said plunge. Bradley and Bogaerts are fairly complicated - Betts and Benintendi are not.
-
He got what the market priced - there is some considerable risk in the deal ... but the Red Sox could clearly afford the downside. The upside was so immense - and so specifically perfect to what ailed the Sox - that it made sense to figure it out. And moreover, the deal is structured in a way that makes sense for everybody. Most big name free agents are bad deals anyway - but unfortunately often you gotta do it.
-
I think this is the interesting question. Who benefits from the Red Sox having a "modest" payroll? The punitive measures aren't really a deterrent. I as an out of town fan sure don't. And if I were a more active consumer of the Red Sox, that answer would be even more emphatic. If the Red Sox slashed payroll - it would just be increasing profit margins for the ownership ... which ultimately does not benefit anybody. Oakland has to think of it like college sportsball - that was the entire point of Moneyball. But the Red Sox manifestly do not (and frankly should not) share that context. Keeping the best player the Red Sox have had since early career Nomar should be a baseball decision - not a financial one. Affordability is a non-issue. A strong minor league system is generally a good idea - but the goals of the minor league system aren't the same.
-
I actually don't disagree with the fundamentals ... but we are a big market team with different realities than Oakland and Tampa, and should not pretend otherwise.
-
We haven't traded a single prospect we're gonna miss ... considering the insanely high prices the fans are charged, an insanely high payroll is frankly something that should be expected. The reason the payroll is going to be crazy high is the success the team has had developing its kiddos. I mean, Dombrowski - for all the talk of mortgaging the future, simultaneously made super-aggressive bets on Benintendi and Devers ... but that always gets underreported.
-
There hasn't been mortgaging of the future either. Really - the team's ability to navigate the future is ultimately on Henry's pocketbook.
-
I think that's fair. Kinsler has a strong Hall of Fame case. Pedroia's is better with the MVP, the 2 titles and of course his status as one of the best 10 or so position players in the history of a tentpole franchise like the Red Sox. But the gap in late career durability is legitimate - and you can't ignore that.
-
Without prime prospects to offer - Dombrowski has extracted a ton of value. He has taken advantage of Boston's other virtue - the ability to absorb money.
-
As Danny Ainge (I think) said, "availability is an ability" - and on that front Kinsler and Pedroia just don't compare since 2013. While folks can disagree about whether Kinsler has been Pedroia over that time frame when they have been playing ... Kinsler actually HAS been playing, and that is a big deal.
-
What I like about the Sox 'pen is that they have a good number of legit multi-inning options. It gives Cora some freedom in having a quick hook with his #4/#5 guys.
-
It was the sort of play we haven't seen since more vintage Pedey.