Kimmi

The difference in managing the pen this year versus how Farrell had to manage the pen last year is that he should be able to manage this year by choice rather than by necessity.

I'd take a flyer on him.

Castillo's defense has actually been pretty good, bonehead plays aside. IMO, he seems right at home in left field.

You guys with your "trade Pedroia" nonsense, knock it off.

Hanley at first base scares me to death. But who knows, he may surprise us. Up until last year, Panda has always been an average to slightly above average defender. Last year, he was the worst defensive 3B in baseball. He may be declining, but I think last year was largely a fluke. He shouldn't have been that bad, and I think we will see some improvement this year. Reports are that both he and Hanley have been working really hard on their conditioning this offseason. That is worth something.

Dombrowski was right in turning his attention to free agency for a starting pitcher. The other GMs have apparently all gone mad. Props to Dombrowski for getting us our ace without selling the farm.

Theo is getting rave reviews, that's for sure. That said, we all know that the games still have to be played on the field. If the Red Sox don't win it all this year, I hope it is the Cubs.

It would be a tempting move for the short term, no doubt. That said, I don't think that having 2 long term contracts to aging pitchers is a good idea. I think the Sox can cover Price's contract well enough should things go terribly wrong, but they should not push their luck with two.

The Allure of the Cubs is stronger than ever. Players are leaving money on the table to play for the Cubs.

Based on what I've been reading about his clubhouse presence, no thanks. He apparently is an awful teammate.

Speaking of Oki, he's looking to make a comeback.

This is why you look at the numbers. To overcome those biased opinions.

1. Just because a pitcher is one of the best does not mean that you can't overpay for him. 2. Take all of those players' contracts in the context of what they did prior to being signed, not in hindsight. Panda was an overpay, the other 3 were not. 3. I'm sorry that you take offense to my assertion that some people are being biased, but I meant no offense. Everyone is biased. You can deny it as much as you want, but you are only fooling yourself. You are biased. As am I. It's human nature. Your bias against those 4 players comes through pretty strongly in your above post. BTW, human bias also the reason why stats are needed. And, I'm not sure how my homer taint works with my opinion that Panda and Price are overpays? 4. Personally, I think I'm a very respectful poster. I have strong opinions, which I can back up, and from which I won't usually back down. But don't mistake that for lack of respect towards others' opinions. 5. Lastly, as I suggested before, if my posts are boring you so much, feel free to ignore them, or better yet, employ the ignore feature.

Perhaps it is, but I don't think so. Here's the way I see it. I am not a fan of long term contracts. By long term, I mean most contracts over 5 years and even many over 4 years. Show me a contract that is 5+ years and I am probably going to think it's an overpay, with rare exceptions. So at least I'm consistent. My opinion of whether a contract is an overpay or not is not based on whether I wanted the player or whether I like the player. That's where the bias comes in with other people's determination of whether a contract is an overpay, IMO. Also, when I say that Price's contract is an overpay, people should not take that to mean that Dombrowski should not have signed him.

I am biased about many things. At least I can admit it.

Thanks. This makes me happy.

Our pen should be one of the best in baseball. As others have noted, Elias could also be a valuable piece out of the pen.

I don't have a twitter account, but do you have any idea how many tweets there were today? One minute so and so is going to team A. The next minute he's not. All day long. Drives me crazy.

Hypocrite was not the right word. I retracted that. Bias is not meant to be negative. Everyone is biased.

Can't wait for the season to start! The offseason is way too long.

Let's try comparing the last 4 seasons, which would make so much more sense, for so many reasons. Iwakuma's WAR over that period is 9.3. Clay's WAR was 8.3. Iwakuma was worth an average of 1/4 more wins per season. Iwakuma averaged 164 innings per season, as you stated. Clay averaged 146 innings per season. Iwakuma pitched an average of 18 more innings per season. So let's say that the additional 1/4 win and 18 innings is worth $2 million per year, which is about right. How is Iwakuma a good deal while Clay an overpay, especially when you factor in age and length of contract?

They are biased against Hanley, Panda, Porcello, and Clay in saying that any of those contracts are overpays (hindsight aside) then turning around and saying Price's contract is not an overpay.

That sums it up pretty nicely.

As I said in the other thread, I really like this deal, and I'm big fan of consistent, innings type pitchers. I think that Boston got the better of this deal, but I wouldn't say that Seattle got fleeced. Elias, at the very least, is a depth piece, and he could turn out to be more than that, either as a starter or in the bullpen. Another added benefit to this trade is that the Sox were able to shed some payroll, albeit a small amount.

LOL And the other two seasons that Iwakuma pitched for Seattle? Nice cherry pick. Iwakuma is injury prone. It's a fact.