moonslav59

I remember one year, I think the Sox felt like they got under the limit, but ended up over by a very small amount.

The rotation? About the same, in terms of question marks and what ifs.

I think it is including all salaries for the whole year.

Sad ending to a great career.

IP 2019-2020: 285 Cole 227 Perez 203 ERod 147 Sale 135 German 109 Pivetta 103 Eovaldi 46 Montgomery 37 Kluber 34 Garcia 12 Severino

Some prospect updates: http://news.soxprospects.com/2021/01/scouting-report-updates-jay-groome-aldo.html

In theory, we could sing Tanaka to $15M/1 and Odorizzi to $13M x 3 and still be just barely under the tax line. More likely, we might sign just one and use some budget space on a RP'er, CF'er and 2Bman- saving some for the dealine.

He is much more likely to pitch 200 good innings than Kluber, and for just $4M more, it seems like a good risk for a 1 year deal.

Tanaka is apparently looking for $15+M/1.

Yes. I amended my post.

Chatham traded to Phillies for P.T.B.N.L... https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/01/red-sox-trade-c-j-chatham-prospect-phillies.html Makes room for Perez.

I'm think the plan is to spend large next winter and be relevant in 2022. Along the way, we try to improve and be reasonably watchable in 2021, while not going over the tax line.

If Dalbec does great in the bigs, how can that make him drop, unless he becomes an ex-prospect due to having too many PAs? I could see Downs moving up with a strong start to 2021. Casas doing well at the next level could move him up. Duran, Houck and Ward are all 24, so I'm not sure, if they could crack the top 100 by mid season. (Seabold is 25.) Mata does look like the best chance at adding a 4th player to the top 100. Long shots: Jimenez (20), A Ramirez (19), Yorke (18) and maybe Groome (22), Rosario (21) or Jordon (18). (Potts 22/Lugo 19?) My Sleeper pick: Bello (21)

We were one of the worst teams in 2012, and look what happened in 2013. A lot depends on the foundation that "bad team" has and how many injuries or abnormally bad years players had that year. Granted, our foundation is not what it was between 2012 and 2013, but we have some nice pieces and a hell of a lot of players coming off injury season(s) and/or bad years. Sure, some of all may not comeback to form, but you seem to be counting on your players in similar situations to come back and lead the Yanks to something special. In a sense, if things go right for the Sox, we could see "additions" from some or many of these players: Sale (7.6 WAR in '17, 6.2 in '18 or even 3.6 in '19) Eovaldi (1.5 WAR in just 11 starts in '18) ERod (3.7 WAR in '19 or even 2.1 in '18) JD (1.031 OPS in '18/ .939 in '19) Beni (.830 OPS in '18/ .774 in '19) Devers (.916 OPS in '19) Vaz (.798 in '19) Chavis (.776 OPS in '19) or something special from... Dalbec (pro-rate 75% of 2020 to 500+ PAs) Houck (pro-rate 75% of 2020 to 120+ IP) Renfroe (.805 in '18/ .778 in '19) Of course, getting all of these players to return to form at once is wishful thinking, but expecting them all to be as bad or injured as they were in 2019 and/or 2020 is wishful thinking on your part. Then, we know we be adding some quality players to the mix in the next 4-6 weeks. It is not a stretch to think we might compete for the WC slot, this year and a ring in 2022. Yes, we will need a few things to go right, all at the same time, but by 2022, Downs and a few other farm hands may add some value in big ways, too. Our budget could expand bigly in 2022, too.

Maybe having Houck for the full season, some returning pitchers from injury and some possible farm help makes him think we have more depth.

As of now, I also see Chavis as the opening day starting 2Bman- not necessarily to build value, but because he offers the most hope for being an overall plus.

Linking Chavis, Dalbec & Ockimey into one group due to their power and high K rates is misleading, and even in the power category, Dalbec is significantly better in slugging %. Dalbec has two things going for him that the others are far behind: 1) OBP Dalbec .359 MLB (92 PAs)/ .362 minors (1609 PAs) Chavis .304 MLB (540 PAs)/.325 minors (1757 PAs) Ockimey n/a MLB/ .360 minors (2353 PAs) 2) Defense Most accounts show Dalbec as the better defender. On K rates and SLG%: SLG: Dalbec .600 MLB/ .505 minors Chavis .424 MLB/ .471 minors Ockimey n/a MLB/ .429 minors K Rate: Dalbec 43% MLB/ 30% minors Chavis 33% MLB/ 26% minors Ockimey n/a MLB/ 29% minors

Are you realistically hopeful our mid season rankings will improve? Who might join the list, and who might move up significantly?

Agreed. I do think we do something major to improve our chances and record in 2021, but only if it also helps us in 2022 or beyond. We may add a few 1 year deals that will allow us to spend large in 2022 and still be better in 2021, but I think we will try to stay under the luxury tax, so it's not an "all out" winter, as it should NOT be.

You need to realize the off season does not end in mid January. If we are still in this same situation in mid February, then have at it. Also, I'd be very surprised, if we go all out to win in 2021. Even 2022 might be too early to hope for a ring. 2020 was treading water and rebuilding the farm. 2021 is about improving the longer term outlook, in terms of ML talent and the farm. 2022 is about the earliest we can hope for meaningful competitiveness. You can't overcome a cliff overnight.

Dalbec is better than Chavis and is "ML farm ready", right?

If depth mean more mediocre pitchers, then maybe, yes.

Word is the Yanks were not the top bidder on Kluber.

True. I'd rather have Price at an added cost of $16M x 2 than Bauer at $32M x 4. The only plus for Bauer is that he just turned 30, and a 4 year deal is not like the 7 years Price and others have gotten, recently.

yes!