Kimmi

Has he not been doing that?

But they should have been. Henry did not go cheap in any of those seasons.

Possibly, but I'm of the opinion that Wright will get that spot, with Barnes being stretched out to be the long man in the pen, provided Barnes continues to pitch well.

The way I see it right now, the 5 starters to open the season will be Price, Buchholz, Porcello, Kelly, and Wright. If we sign a mid-rotation starter to a big league deal, the only one who can be sent down from that list without permission or without going through waivers is Kelly. While I would be okay with that for depth purposes, he is currently pitching very well. Let's suppose that Elias gets that 5th spot over Wright and is then traded to make room for the new pitcher. Rodriguez will be back, presumably at the end of April. Who goes then? Does Rodriguez stay in AAA? Or Kelly if he's pitching like he has been recently?

Go Pablo!!!

What bothers me the most about all of the Pablo vitriol is that many have you have made assumptions about him as a person, based on him being fat. I am done trying to defend Pablo to you guys. You have obviously made up your minds about him, and nothing I say will change that. I will leave you with some quotes from him regarding the competition for 3B. I hope that you can see that he at least has the right attitude about it.

Fair point, provided that the team chooses to keep Pablo. That statement was more in terms of the Sox choosing to part ways with Pablo and eating his contract. That might not happen this year, but if Pablo stinks, I'm sure the Sox would prefer to move him rather than keep him as a bench player. It is financially in the best interest of the Sox if Pablo plays well.

Fair enough that I don't know how upset he actually is. But any sensitivity has not manifested itself publicly, except for the one incident with the reporter, which by most accounts, happens often and was blown out of proportion.

It is interesting, because the early reports out of camp from the beat writers was that Pablo was moving very well and looked better than last season. Did he lose that ability in a two week period? Or maybe he's working on his footwork or something, which is causing him to appear to be less agile right now, while he's working on it. Again, give him a fair chance in some real games. If he stinks, I'll drive his bus out of town.

Dojii, you have been one of the few voices of reason lately. Thank you.

On the topic of Farrell being on the hot seat: Unfortunately, the "sense of urgency" that Farrell feels might lead him to make some rash decisions which are not necessarily the correct decisions. I understand and agree with the idea that some players should be on a short leash, but I still think that they, Pablo in particular, should be given at least the month of April to either prove himself or to fail. Despite the love for Shaw, I think it's in the team's best interest to give Pablo a fair chance and to hope he succeeds. 1. There are the obvious financial reasons. 2. Shaw is largely untested as a full time major league player. This is not a knock on Shaw. He has won me over, and I think he would be fine. I also honestly (somewhat) feel that he has earned the spot. But what if he flatlines? 3. If Shaw becomes our starting 3B, we lose valuable depth, not only at 3B but at LF and 1B. I know we still have Holt, but our depth still takes a hit. 4. One of the team's problems last year was too many new/young players on the team. Hanley is a veteran but is playing a brand new position. I think having a veteran player at 3B would be a plus. Of course, this all hinges on Pablo being successful. If he fails to show any improvement after a month or two, then all bets are off. But I do think it's in the team's best interest to give him a fair shot in real games.

You know darn well that if the reporters knew that Pablo was 20 pounds heavier than he left last season, it would be heavily reported. Don't try to kid yourself otherwise. As far as Pablo being overly sensitive, he has actually handled himself very well. He has been beaten up daily by the fans and by the press and he has taken most of it in stride.

With no disrespect to either you or a700, you cannot get an accurate assessment of any player based off of a handful of innings in spring training games.

And I might add, the fat jokes are not even particularly funny.

I wanted to see Pablo in better condition than he is too. The difference is, I am being open-minded about it. I want to see him play in regular season games before I decide if he deserves the starting position. If he stinks, he gets benched, no problem. Most people immediately assumed the worst about Pablo as a player and as a person, and wrote him off, based on his appearance. The criticism and the fat jokes have been brutal and down right mean.

Thank you. This post makes me happy.

No, he is not getting a fair shot. He has been scrutinized for every little thing he has done, and he has yet to play in a regular season game.

I am not making any assumptions. I have no idea what he weighs, or whether he is heavier or lighter than when he left last season. It's interesting that it's all over the ball park that Pablo is 20 pounds heavier than last year, but somehow this news has not made its way into the media. Could it simply be more speculation? I agree that Pablo's defense has not been good. All I am saying, is give him a chance.

But Elias is likely already starting the season in AAA, or if not, he will likely be sent back down shortly thereafter. Trading away a guy with options would not help the roster crunch.

No, I am not implying that bullpens are not important. I just think that you can build a very good one without handing out a large contract to a relief pitcher. FTR, Bard was a very good set up man before he completely fell apart. I agree that there are times that you have to sign a reliever. You are not going to be able to completely build a pen from within. I just don't see a Papelbon-like contract being reasonable. There are less expensive, proven closers that will give you almost the same level of production for less money.

Sure, but we're talking about a mid-rotation pitcher. What sense does it make to move one mid-rotation pitcher for another?

Which they did with Price's monster contract. It's really easy for fans to say that the team should just increase payroll to suit whatever needs the fans think the team has. Realistically and from a practical business standpoint, it's not going to happen, nor should it. Henry is a lot of things, but "cheap" is one thing that I don't think he can be fairly labeled. He has shown time and again that he is willing to spend, within reason, to make this team competitive.

While adding a mid-rotation guy seems like a viable and wise thing to do, another consideration to doing that is that it creates a roster crunch. Most of those guys are not going to accept a minor league assignment. Adding a mid-rotation guy likely means DFAing another, unless you want Rodriguez or Kelly in AAA.

Steep price indeed. Compare Kimbrel with Carson Smith, as one example: Kimbrel in 2015 was worth 1.5 WAR at a salary of $9 mil. His salary increases to $11 mil this year. Smith in 2015 was worth 2.1 WAR at a salary of $510 K. His salary increases to $529 K this year. Dojii is correct in the sense that Kimbrel was worth his salary in terms of WAR. (Papelbon was not.) The point is, however, that relievers are not worth spending that much money on when a comparable replacement can usually be found at a much cheaper price. I understand the difference in salaries between players under team control and free agents, but the fact of the matter is that the best relievers are so often guys who are brought up from the farm, while free agent relievers who receive big contracts usually end up being a mistake. There are far better ways to spend a team's money than on relief pitching. And that is no way implying that bullpens are not important.

No one is saying that Pablo has turned into a Gold Glover. It is in the team's best interest to give Pablo a fair shot and hope that he can play at the level that he did in SF.