Maxbialystock

His DWAR last year was 10th best.

Porcello ain't no horse in my eyes. Way too pricey. In four years with us, he has an accumulated WAR of 8.2 which cost the Sox $73M or about $9M per WAR of 1. That's still cheaper, however, than paying $90M for Price's three seasons and accumulated WAR of 9 or $10M per WAR of 1. Let me also say that I am at the deep end of the pool barely treading water. I hate these GM discussions.

Any word on how Pedroia looked today in his "full" workout?

Anything good about Lin is good, period. He can field well at 3b, 2b, and SS and now maybe finally he can hit too. If Pedroia's knee holds him back, Lin backs up Holt at 2b. Also SS. At 3B we have Nunez and Devers, but you never can tell.

Pretty good thread. I don't see how the Sox can keep Swihart after keeping him on the 25 man roster for the entire 2018 season and postseason--and basically not using him. He's a catcher who I think the pitchers don't trust/like. He isn't a good enough fielder or hitter to break into the outfield or infield. I voted he would be trading for pitching help, but now think he might simply be dfa'd.

You could be right. I'm just still on my rant.

I hope you mean DD's unwillingness to meet Kimbrel's agent's demands. In the past three years with the Sox Kimbrel has accumulated a total WAR of 6.7 and total salary of $37.5M. That's roughly $6M per WAR of 1, which is insane and way over-priced. In the last two seasons Chris Sale has accumulated a total WAR of 12.9 and salary of $24.5M--or about $2M per WAR of 1. For his career Sale has a total WAR of 43.1 and total salary of $44.9M. Sale is underpaid. Kimbrel is already ridiculously overpaid and wants more of the same with of course zero guarantee of performance unless growing a beard is a worthwhile asset. If Wright is healthy--a big if--I see a pretty good core with Wright, Barnes, Brasier, and maybe Hembree, Poyner, and Smith.

My maternal grandmother was French Canadian and my mother was born in Drummondville. Come to think of it . . . .

Thanks for the reminder because my intent is to wage WAR for as long as it takes. Jacoby Ellsbury: 11 seasons, accumulated WAR, 31.1; total salary, $105.3M, which is $3.4M per WAR of 1. Benintendi: 3 season, accumulated WAR, 7; total salary $1.17M, which is $160K per WAR of 1. Alex Rodriguez, 22 seasons, accumulated WAR of 118, total salar of $396M, which is $3.38M per WAR of 1. Looking back, I think we have a pretty nice shot group of ARod, Pablo, Hanley and Jake: all are right around $3-4M per WAR of 1. They would be dwarfed, however, by Bryce Harper if had taken the $300M for 10 years and averaged the same WAR of 4 he has averaged in 7 years. Because then his $$ per WAR of 1 would have been $7M Scott Boras can go pound sand as far as I'm concerned. He's selling sugar water and calling it the elixir of life. And he's got not only the players parroting his philosophy, but some sports writers too.

I missed the specifics on WAR vs. $$ value, but have looked at baseball reference for a few players-- In 8 seasons, JDM's accumulated WAR is 20.4, and his total salary is $45.7M, about $2.2M per WAR of 1. His WAR last year was 6.4 and his salary $23.8M, which is close to what his salary will be this year. . In 5 seasons, Mookie's accumulated WAR is 35.2, and his total salary is $12.5M, about $350K per WAR of 1 and a huge savings for the Sox. This year, his arbitration salary will be $20M. In 11 seasons, Pablo Sandoval's accumulated WAR is 18.4 and total salary is $71.8M--the complete reverse of Mookie and strong evidence for why GM's are more and more reluctant to pay a lot for a little. About $4M per WAR of 1. In 14 seasons, Hanley Ramirez accumulated WAR is 38.1 vs. a total salary of $159.2M. About $4M per WAR of 1. Bryce Harper, 7 seasons, accumulated WAR 27.4 vs. total salary of $47.4M, about $1.7M per WAR of 1. His average WAR per season is 27.4/7= 4. If he gets $300M for 10 years and averages a WAR of 4, that's a salary of over $7M per WAR of 1. Manny Machado, 7 seasons, total WAR of 33.8, total salary of $34M, about $1M/WAR. Albert Pujols, 18 seasons, accumulated WAR of 100, total salary of $257M, about $2.5M per WAR of 1. Worth noting: at St Louis, 11 season, accumulated WAR of 86.6, total salary of $104M, about $1.2M per WAR of 1. At LA an accumulated WAR of 13.5 and a total salary of $153M, about $11M per WAR of 1.

Thanks. I was on BDC, which was only my second blog site/forum ever. RIP, PinstripeZac. 62 is way too young. My brother (not a Sox fan) died last year at 71, and I thought that was way too young.

I really like that. The parade happened despite Kimbrel's worst postseason--that speak volumes and just maybe also explains why nobody is meeting his agent's absurd demands. I also like notin's comment that those other innings in relief are just as important as the last one. That also connects to why teams want great bullpens so that they can tell their starters, "just get us to the 7th inning (or the 6th)." Or just say the bullpen will be important for a minimum of 450 innings because it's a really long season.

He sure was.

Too true. And, as I understand it, that is precisely the concern of the owners. They don't want to kill the goose producing those golden eggs. At the same time, I just read that the last year the Nationals offered--in advance of his free agency--Bryce Harper $300M for 10 years. And reportedly he was insulted--or Scott Boras was. On top of that, Bryce has had just one really good year, 2015, when his OWAR was 91.. That's out of six full seasons. His next best OWAR was 2017 at 4.3. Xander Bogaerts average OWAr for the past 4 seasons is 4.4. On top of that Harper is usually a bust in the postseason. Plus he is just one guy in the lineup. Boras says he is a franchise player, but I frankly am not seeing it, so to me $300M for 10 years is a tremendous overpay. Nevertheless, your point is still well taken. MLBPA taught the players they have leverage, and they are going to use it. What did Gordon Decko say? Greed is good.

No doubt. And I do apologize.

Agreed. I was thinking the same thing.

The OP is just another rant by yours truly. I honestly have to say I don't like 7 year contracts even though I understand why the players want them so much. "Billionaires vs. millionaires" is a tad misleading I think because the billionaires got that way outside of MLB (there are no doubt exceptions, however). In the Ken Burns series on Baseball, once chapter is about Curt Flood and the end of the Reserve Clause. A commentator says, "before Curt Flood the average player made 7 times as much as the average fan. Afterward, it was 7 x 7." If the average fan today makes $50K (they probably make more), the average player would only have to make $2.45M for the new formula to be 7 x 7 x 7. Ain't that a hoot?

He sure was. A friend at the office reminded me that he went to the Orioles because the Reds were sure he was finished and had no good years left. I think it was his mvp year when he regular "held court" after games and fined players for various misdemeanors, some of which weren't even misdemeanors. But it helped the clubhouse and maybe convinced Robinson he could one day manage.

I'm getting a little tired of reading column after column saying MLB teams don't want to improve their teams, which to me means they are reluctant to enrich Scott Boras. My version of reality is the the MLBPA has been by far the most powerful professional sports union and enormously effective. So effective that it's rare if not impossible to find a contending team (.500 or better) that isn't overpaying someone who is under-performing. The Sox, for example, might have led that parade in 2018 when they continued to pay Hanley and Pablo not to play for the Sox. Pomeranz was an obvious overpay and David Price probably was. On the other side of the ledger are the underpays. You know, like apprentice Mookie Betts, who won the AL MVP, but had to work a second job (as Carl Furillo and others in fact used to do) to make ends meet because, you know, $10.5M was barely enough to put food on the table. This year, thanks to arbitration (and the MLBPA), he will finally get a living wage, $20M. Then, finally, with his apprenticeship over, will come the real money. Still on the underpaid side of the ledger are Machado and Harper. At 26 and at the end of his apprenticeship, poor(literally) Manny has accumulated an embarrassingly paltry $34M in salary to date. Harper's doing a tad better at $47.4M, but the fact remains: MLB and those nasty, stingy owners owe these two legendary, franchise-saving, wonderful human beings a lot and by that I mean a ton of make-up salary. How in the world are these two going to be able to live the rest of their lives with any smidgen of comfort and security without another $350M guaranteed apiece? I do get that salaries are supposed to be commensurate with the overall profitability of MLB--and last year reportedly MLB's net profit was better than every. That said, I for one am delighted that those nasty owners are digging in their heels just a tab because to MLBPA got a little too powerful, especially when you consider the fans pay for everything (well, almost).

Kinsler just signed with the Padres. Is this a problem?

Interesting. I too agree with those five. I've kind of stayed away from talksox because the season ended, but came back to check this thread out because it's always about what's going on with the Sox. And quite independently I had concluded something similar--that those five will key to the Sox lineup. And key to that was, just as you say, it's time for the real Devers to emerge.

JBJ peaked in 2016. His hitting and defense have trended downward the past two season in terms of OPS, DWAR, and WAR. That said, I'm fine with whatever Dombrowski decides. I can see value in keeping him, depending on the prices.

Where do I get one of those WS grey hoodies/sweatshirts the Sox were wearing?

For this team especially you are dead on target. After I think game 4, Pearce was interviewed and insisted this was very much a team win, period. And that includes a nutty 6'7" beanpole starter having a tough WS who is shouting at his teammates--right before their big 7th inning rally to be followed by a dinger in the 8th and 5 more runs in the 9th--that this game isn't over!

Interesting. On another thread I said the same thing. Pearce was fantastic, of course. But Price's fantastic was based on 200 pitches--vs what? 4 good swings of the bat? Give me a break.