Kimmi

I assume you are talking about developing pitching talent, because the Sox have been developing position players in a consistent and timely manner. Part of the reason for not developing pitchers consistently is because the Sox' philosophy was to draft the best player regardless of position or need. The team could then trade from a position of strength for a position of need. If we take the Sale trade in and of itself, I really don't have a problem with it. I do understand that part of having a strong farm system is to use some of the pieces in trades. It's the magnitude of prospects that Dombrowski traded away that I don't like. A GM cannot decimate the farm like that.

Good for Fister.

I find it interesting that Otani is asking interested teams to write a dissertation for him, which is to include things like how the team plans to use him, what the future of the team looks like, and what the team's training regimen is. He does not want it to include anything regarding his contract.

Yes, I realize that the Yankees had a better Pythagorean W-L record than we did. IMO, they are going to be the division favorites next season, even if we added Stanton. That doesn't mean we can't contend for the division, but we will need things to break right for us, which they didn't this past year. And things did break right for the Yankees. Maybe they won't break so well for the Yankees next year. That said, I'm not advocating that we do nothing to improve. I am advocating that we don't take on a big contract. Adding someone like Santana or even Duda, and fortifying our pitching, both the rotation and the pen will improve the team. Also, as I've mentioned before, I think we will see improvement from the guys we already have.

Personally, I would rather do nothing than go big. Not that I'm opposed to adding a big piece. I'm just opposed to adding a big piece for a ridiculous price. You can get pieces that are much better than mediocrity without going big.

Absolutely, health is the key.

IMO, it makes a lot to wait until midseason for a possible 2B upgrade, along with some other moves. At that time, we will have a clearer idea of what our needs are.

Let's hope he does this. I read an article this morning that said that the Sox have to "spend big to keep up with the Yankees". Memo to Dave: Please don't listen to that garbage.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours Moon, and to everyone here.

Swihart may also be in that mix, though like many others, I'm not confident in his ability to play 2B well.

Yeah, I agree that it's kind of funny that we have so many smaller players on our team. Not sure why that is.

He has a plan for 2018. He just doesn't have one for beyond 2020.

I think the Quiroz signing is a strong indication that the Sox are going to fill 2nd base internally, which is what they've been saying all along. It really doesn't make much sense to sign or trade for a full time 2B until we know for certain what Pedroia's status is.

If Hosmer and Santana are going to cost that much, not to mention the QO, then Duda would probably be the way to go.

I get that oldtimer. Put the ball in play and you have a chance of something happening. But that's why I said as long as the OBP is decent. If you have two guys, one who strikes out 5% of the time and the other who strikes out 25% of the time, but both have the same OBP, the strike outs really don't matter. That said, believe me that I get extremely frustrated when a batter strikes out with a man on 3rd with less than 2 outs.

The 5' 7" Quiroz would fit right in with the rest of our little guys.

Adam Dunn is another one who comes to mind.

In terms of making outs, a strike out is no worse than any other kind of out made over the long run, even in that situation. As long as his OBP is decent, it doesn't matter if he strikes out a lot. Many sluggers fit that description. I did not have a problem with Napoli's Ks because he got on base at a decent clip.

I like the move. Quiroz does have good numbers, albeit in other leagues, and he can play both the infield and outfield. He may not amount to anything more than depth, but he could end up being a super sub guy or a solid replacement for Pedroia.

From what I've read, it does sound like Marco is the favorite going into spring training. Lin could possibly challenge that, as well as Quiroz. A little healthy competition isn't a bad thing.

I agree on both counts Bell. It's pretty much a given.

He may not rebound like some of us hope he can, but he was playing injured last year. It's quite possible that he can be a solid offensive player for us. I am hopeful.

LOL You are not right.

Yes, this would be a great reason to sign Hosmer.

We can add someone else to the mix of potential 2B to fill in for Pedroia. I know nothing about this guy besides what's written here but his numbers look pretty good. He also plays shortstop and 3B, and has played in the outfield. Boston Red Sox free agency: Esteban Quiroz, an infielder from Mexico, signs with Boston Updated 11:22 AM; Posted 10:53 AM By Christopher Smith The Red Sox have signed Mexican infielder Esteban Quiroz to a minor league deal. Team Mexico tweeted the news of his signing. The 25-year-old left-handed hitter posted a .293 batting average with a .428 on-base percentage, .488 slugging percentage, .916 OPS, 11 homers, 23 doubles and 49 RBIs in 89 games during 2017 for Leones de Yucatan of the Mexican League. The 5-foot-7, 175-pounder posted a .335/.449/.522/.972 line with 15 homers, 18 doubles and 63 RBIs in 97 games during 2016 for Tigres de Quintana Roo. He has played second base, shortstop and third base. He also played center, right and left field earlier in his career. He hasn't played the outfield since 2015. He is not part of Boston's amateur international bonus pool spending because he's 25 and he's played seven professional seasons in Mexico (requirement is minimum six seasons). So the Red Sox still have approximately $462,000 to offer Shohei Ohtani. Dustin Pedroia (knee surgery) is expected to miss the first month and then at least some of May. Quiroz will head into spring training on a minor league deal but he'll compete with several others, including Marco Hernandez, Brock Holt, Deven Marrero, Tzu-Wei Lin and even potentially Blake Swihart, for the second base job.