moonslav59

LOL. We had some big guys on the bench, so maybe they were better at fighting than B-ball.

I'd like to see a Dalbec-Ockimey platoon with Chavis taking over, if one fails or another 2Bman squeezes him out of that job or platoon.

I agree. I'm not sure Duran is ML ready, so I think signing a cheap defensive whiz to play CF (maybe part time) next year might make sense. Assuming no bring back lost FAs and no JD & JBJ... I'd like to see Dalbec be Devers' back-up and play some 1B. I'd like to see Ockimey get a legit shot at making the team as a platoon (vs RHPs ONLY) 1B/DH. I'm not saying he deserves a slot, but he rakes righties, and let's find out what he can do. I'd like to see Travis get a shot, but honestly, I don't have hardly any confidence in him being a useful piece to a championship team. He may just fill a role, next year and then be gone. I'd let Chavis fight for the 2B and 1B job and maybe DH some. He would not be guaranteed a job going into spring. He was sub .700 after his first 3 weeks in MLB. I'd like to see Chatham, Marco and Lin fight for the 2B/utility IF job. I'm not sure there is room for two, especially if Chavis is going to play a lot at 2B. I'm fine with letting Duran have a go at it, but I think he needs another year in AAA. I'm not sure we'll need Leon to be Sale's binky anymore, but I don't see playing Centeno as revealing anything about our future, so either way is fine with me. If the budget permits, maybe we can bring up Castillo and do him a favor by letting him set some value for his upcoming FA season. As for the pitching, obviously I want to see more of D Hern. I'm not sure Houck is ready, but I trust the Sox to know when he, Mata, Feltman and Ward are ready. I'm not sure anyone else peaks my interest, so the bulk of innings should go to Sale, Price, ERod, Eovaldi and the same pen we had this year plus maybe one FA. I'm okay with signing a one year 5th starter type, especially if DHern is marked for the pen.

Fall/Winter League Update... http://news.soxprospects.com/2019/10/fallwinter-league-roundup-houck-leads.html

I'd be thrilled with Friedman. If it comes down to dollars, both owners can bid and bid and bid more.

I never said they would. Here's how I'd try to handle a rebuild: I'd trade JD, JBJ & Betts, then re-sign Betts. I'd sign some stop gap guys to keep us from being horrible, but nobody to longer term deals, unless I felt they'd be part of the next competitive team (2021? Not likely. 2022? Maybe.) I remember thinking we had a pretty good team in the spring of 2012, 2014 and 2015 (and 2019), but we sucked. It's all about perception.

Or, Bent-to-infinity.

Meh. Probably work out better than David Chester, Luis Diaz & Kyle Martin will.

Not that it's a bad thing. My guess is it's down to a short list, now. I'm fairly confident we'll make a good choice. (I would not be happy with a GM by committee choice.)

He'll be so fat, he'll have to DH.

Our "big guys" never work out, anyways.

Again, you are inventing positions I do not hold. Saying we were cleaner than the dirtiest team in MLB is not saying we are or were clean, ever. Where did I ever come close to saying the "Sox did it the right way?" Can we stop this?

I kind of thought trading 4/5ths of our rotation for guys like Kelly, Craig, Cespedes, Hembree and others was playing it "in bteween," but we won by just adding a few mid range FAs. Who knows. I do get your point, however, and it's not a bad one.

That would be interesting- giving Castillo a shot during his last year of team control and with no taxes attached. I shudder to think of this, though: LF: Travis/Sturgeon CF: Duran/Lin RF: Castillo

I thought we could compete in 2019, so who knows. This team minus those FAs, some are addition by subtraction and JD and JBJ could still compete, but it's kind of a long shot. If we lose JD and JBJ, I'd clean house to try and shorten the rebuild window.

Stop the strawmanisms. I said cleaner than the Yanks NOT everyone. That being said, I think we have been one of the cleanest, but I don't keep track of every team's PED count.

The other thing we have to remember is that the system was different under Dan D & Theo. Rich teams could draft "unsignable" players with the 28th pick and sign them. The IFA market was a free-for-all. The comp pick system actually helped richer teams, and we mopped up with comp picks. Theo's last draft saw his first 4 picks being comp picks (Barnes, Swihart, 0wens & JBJ). He later drafted Betts with the 172nd pick. In 2010, he had 4 comp picks as his first picks, also (Vitek, Brentz, Ranaudo & Workman). In 2009, with no comp picks, we got Reymond Fuentes & Alex Wilson- nothing more. His 4th to last draft, he got Casey Kelly and Derrik Gibson, but his 2 comp picks were Bryan Price & Stephen Fife. Take away the comp picks, and it look pretty bleak, except for Betts. His IFA signing his last 4 years: Tazawa, Cueves, Montas, Iggy, Bogey, Aro, Margot & Lin

You really think it's even? Where did I ever say our hands are clean? Cleaner but not clean.

Yes, we save salary, but a 4th round pick is almost useless.

Separate, if you want to make it that way, yes, but you were making blanket claims that Ben could not acquire good young pitchers, and the draft is just one way to get them. The IFA market is another. Trading for ERod was another.

Manny was tested while in Boston. Who knows, if he used in Boston, or not, but it's entirely possible that he began using as he aged and started getting hurt more often. I'm not pretending our team was always clean- just that I know we were and are cleaner than the Yanks by a long shot is good enough for me.

Well said, but sometimes you have to fall on the sword for guys like Mo and Jete.

Dan Duquette did the same for Theo. Every GM we've had, except DD has left an excellent farm for the next guy. I'm not saying this makes DD a bad GM. I'm glad we hired him at that time, and he brought us a ring and 3 division crowns in a row, but in terms of leaving things well off for the next guy, we're looking at a mess and a half.

Let's talk PED scoreboard, okay? Cue crickets...

It's a separate thing, and it's not a draft. It is, however, evidence of a GM who knows how to acquire some excellent young talent (Devers & D Hernandez that "off year").