moonslav59

Maybe the costs have risen, but in recent years, we got... Eovaldi for Beeks Addison Reed for 3 scrubs (Bautista, Nogodek & Callahan) Is Dalbec any worse of a prospect than these were?

Can we agree that with a pen like ours, making pen choices is not an easy task. Just about anyone he calls on can be viewed skeptically.

I agree, and the idea of Eovaldi as a multi-inning RP'er in the playoffs looks very appealing... again. That being said, I still think we acquire a decent to solid pen arm this summer.

That's what I had in mind. I don't expect anyone wants Nunez and his salary at face value. Even, if we do a deal like what you suggest, we may still throw in some money to offset Nunez's overpay. The tricky part is that when you try to acquire a decent pitcher getting paid more money than he's worth or more than a losing team is willing to pay, they are NOT looking to take salary back. They are looking to dump salary. There may be just a very few teams willing to take on $3-6M of Nunez's salary just so they can take a flyer on Ockimey or Dalbec or some other promising prospect. I'd love to find a deal like this that might add $2-6M to our summer spending budget, so we can then acquire a better, more costly pitcher afterwards and stay under the $40M line.

Okay, I missed that, but someone did bring it to the top, right after our worst game in years.

A lot of moves a manager makes are "iffy," and there is a lot more that goes into each choice than we'll ever know. I'm not saying we can't say this move or that move was "wrong," especially if we say it before the results are in, but my own personal view is that I like the vast majority of moves Cora makes, and quite a few of the ones I disagreed with at the times they were made, ended up working out well. I guess I just don't feel any need to knit-pick every move a manager makes. Iffy moves sometimes work and sometimes they don't, and when they don't it doesn't necessarily mean it was a "bad move," since we never will know what might have happened if another move (or our choice of moves) was made. To me, Cora is a fantastic manager, and just because more of his moves have failed this year, doesn't change my opinion. Think of how many times Cora has brought in Walden, and it worked. Think about how nervous we were, when he brought him in earlier in the season. No way did any of us expect Walden to do this well. Was Cora a genius for depending on such an iffy guy for so long while it worked, or did a player just perform well? Now, Walden fails, and then the next guys failed, so Cora sucks. To me, our pen has performed way better than expected, but when they fail, it's all Cora's fault... not DD's...not Brasier's... not just bum luck. Cora's my guy all the way. He's the best Sox manager I have seen, although the sample size is certainly too small to defend that view. I think, in time, many will feel the same way I do, now.

$6.8M can be a lot at the deadline, since we will only owe about 1/3 of the 2019 salary of anyone we pick up. If we trade for someone now, we will owe about 2/3. I'm not sure how long we can wait.

I've already said I did not like the Lakins choice, and questioning how long he stuck with Brasier is fine, but "fire Cora?" I have zero issues with Cora. I'm still thrilled he is our manager, and I have no ill will over a few choices I happen to disagree with. He knows more than I do, and I trust him as our leader- 100% and then some.

Well said. I do remember a few times last year, several posters jumped off the bad wagon with force.

My comment was not directed at you, and in hindsight, the ST'ing "Restgate" seems to have failed miserably at this point in the season, but the plan was based on the idea that we'd have fresh arms when it really counts, so I think we should reserve judgment until that time comes and goes. Every manager makes mistakes, especially in hindsight. Brasier had gone his last 4 appearances (4 IP) without allowing a hit, walk or run. After least year's performance, I don't fault Cora for trying him in the 9th. I don't fault Cora for using Barnes in an earlier high leverage situation. Needing to call on Lakins might be more of a DD criticism than Cora, but I hated the choice, even before the bedlam. I'm glad it's a 162 game season, but last night felt like a sucker punch in the gut. We will move on. We will win. And, there's a good chance we will be hailing Cora as a genius after our back-to-back championship seasons.

Brasier was fantastic for us last year (second half call-up), and certainly he deserved a chance to show that wasn't a fluke. It looked like he might be coming around, before last night, as he had gone his last 4 outings (4 IP) without giving up a hit, walk or run. I don't blame Cora for trying him in the 9th, last night. The Lakins choice was highly questionable. Even Walden, who had been our rock, stumbled at the worst time. Pens are hard to predict. If I'd have told everyone that these guys would have these numbers near the end of May, you'd think our pen must be great: OPS Against as a RP'er ONLY (PAs against) .400 Workman (94) .522 Walden (118) .573 Barnes (87) .669 Weber (35) .689 Brasier (93) .705 Hembree (102) Most of these were low leverage PAs against: .739 Velazquez (56) .747 Brewer (103) .851 Lakins (32) (Most from last night) .963 DHern (12) .972 Thornburg (86) 1.285 Johnson (30) 1.345 ERam (15) I've been saying all along, we could use a nice pen upgrade. I felt maybe waiting until the deadline might be the best idea, so we could take on more "pro-rated" salary, instead of a whole season's salary, and we'd flush out the other 6-7 RP'er out of the 15 or so trying to stick on the 25 man roster. I have not given up on Brasier, despite his drop in Ks and his performance last night. I still have hopes that Walden and Workman are for real, but hoping on Walden might be homerism. Right now, I'd use Barnes and Workman as my ninth inning or high leverage guys. Walden and Hembree as my main set-up guys. Velazquez as my long man, and Brasier as the mop up man trying to show he can be given more meaningful innings over time. We need to replace this whole Lakins/Brewer/Thornburg circus. Maybe Weber can move to the pen when Eovaldi returns, but I'd feel safer leaving him as AAA depth to the rotation and acquiring a solid RP'er via trade. I'd be willing to trade Dalbec and Johnson, if anybody wants him or maybe a decent farm arm. Maybe we could shed some salary by finding a taker for some of Nunez or Pearce's salaries, so we can add more pen salary through salary dump trades as we near the trade deadline. We still can win the division. I'm sure of it, but we are making it tougher by losing games like last night's.

I don't think it portrays the luxury tax numbers- just straight salaries. It has us $14M+ under the $40M tax line, but I think we are about $4-6M under the luxury tax calculation $40M over line.

I guess, at this point, I should cease being amazed at all the knee-jerk reactionaries in this world.

Worst loss in a long, long time.

All I can say is WTF! It's games like these that really feel like a big punch in the gut.

The tax only applies to the amount over the tax line- morefor anything over the second and third lines. The tax rate goes up each consecutive year going over.

The reset assumption was the foundation of my belief in a "cliff" at some point. If we never reset, we should be able to stay at least somewhat competitive every year, if not, then something is wrong with the GM.

I'd like to see a healthy dose of both- build a nice farm and spend big when and where needed.

Comfort is mythical.

Eovaldi to throw a simulated game... Nathan Eovaldi scheduled to throw simulated game WWW.MLB.COM BOSTON -- Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Tuesday that right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, who is recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow, is expected to throw a simulated game against live batters either Thursday or Friday, but "probably Friday" due to the team's travel schedule. The Red Sox have

Okay, maybe the "hands down" was hyperbole, but I'll take Doerr's numbers over Pedey, and since I never saw Doerr play, that's what I have to go by. (BTW, his best season looks better than Pedey's MVP season- on paper.)

It was a smaller league- not watered down. Plus, you could count on Doerr to be there every year. Dependability has value, too.

Thanks for reminding me. I had forgotten the SF. I loved his HR trot with the one flap down. Classic.

I think Doerr wins hands down. He missed a year due to military service right after his best season of his career. He had 8 seasons over .800 and all 13 of his full seasons over .750. 8 times in the top 24 in MVP voting. Pedey won one MVP, but finished in the voting just 3 times. 6 seasons over .800, including one year with just 302 PAs. 10 out of 11 seasons over .750.

How about Dave Henderson saving himself from the same fate? He flubbed a catch into a HR, then hit one of the biggest HRs in Sox history (off Moore) to redeem himself.