moonslav59

The moral of story is don't mess with... CHRIS FREAKIN' SALE !

I don't think signing Cody Allen, Pearce and a solid set-up man is "complacent." I'm going on the assumption that we may have a budget about $35-39.9M over the luxury limit. That might allow for us to fill high priority needs with free agents and minor trades only. If we lose, all bets are off, and I think Henry will spend what is needed to make us the favorites for 2019. I'm just not sure trading JBJ helps us, unless he's part of a package for someone like Carrasco AND DD signs a capable CF'er who will not be a (big) drop off from JBJ. I don't disagree that it might happen, but I think the chances are much higher after 2019. If we win this year, we may look to retool and reset the tax, and maybe he could be dealt, so we can keep Betts or Bogey or both.

OPS by Slot BOS NYY 1. 1.028 > .786 2. .759 3. .871 > .719 4. .968 > .957 5. .796 > .775 6. .684 7. .667 8. .607 9. .704 > .702 Big differences in RED

Not asking too much at all. Feel the breeze from all the brooms!

Thanks. The downside is the chance we go down 3-0 and then have to wonder about bringing in Sale or not, or maybe bringing him in during an inning. I agree, if Wright gives us 2 solid innings, Sale could benefit from coming in after him to start the 3rd inning, but I think Kimbrel might need the "residual" help more than Sale. I don't think your idea is a bad one, but I would not want to try it for the first time at this point in the season.

I'm not sure we have a lot of high priority slots to fill other than closer. We will have a need for set-up pitching and maybe 2B or 1B vs LHPs, but we may have enough budget space to fill all these needs without making a major trade. I can see us trading JBJ after 2019. We will be facing a much tougher budget, and JBJ will be going into his final arb year. Maybe we sign Cody Allen, Pearce and a solid set-up man and roll the dice. We can make an in season trade or two, if needed.

Here are some 2018 numbers we can hope to improve on next year... Listed in order of most PAs .717 JBJ 535 PAs- hopefully he can stay near .800 all 2019. .677 Nunez 502- maybe give us .750 next year .731 Devers 490- give us more PAs and .800+ .758 Moreland 459- last year we blamed the toe for the second half swoon. .511 Leon 288- That's about as low as anyone can go and still play a lot. .540 Vaz 269- More PAs and maybe closer to 2017's .735 would be nice .613 Swihart 207- Needs to hit better to play more. .708 HRam 195- Must all be replaced .901 Pearce 165- One area we need to replace in kind .604 Kinsler 143- Replacing the offense is easy- the defense, not so much (Pedey?) .744 Lin 73- not likely he improves on this .652 Travis 38/ .520 Phillips 27/ .322 Pedey 13- We'll see. On the pitching side... 4.17 Johnson (99IP)- Some hope here 3.18 Velazquez 85- Hard to imagine a big improvement, except maybe with IP'd. 6.08 Pomeranz 74- Yipee! 4.39 Kelly 66- Not that hard to improve on 2.74 Kimbrel 62- This is priority #1. 3.65 Barnes 62- I'm hopeful here. 4.20 Hembree 60- Could see a gain here. 3.33 Eovaldi 54- Maybe Wright, Johnson and Velazquez can replace him. 3.27 Workman 41 - Maybe more innings next year 1.60 Brasier 34- Probably less quality but more quantity of IP'd. 5.63 Thornburg 24- Huge disappointing season. 3.22 Poyner 22- More innings expected here 7.41 Cuevas 17- maybe let go for rule 5's or free agents 3.69 Walden 15- Hard to know. 3.77 Smith 14- arb cost might force non-tender. 8.10 Scott 7- Hard to know. (No Beeks 12.79 in 6.1 IP)

Who plays less, so Swi plays more?

They are really good, and maybe CLE, but to me, HOU is better, on paper.

He sure is! Too bad we didn't have any pieces to deal for him.

It's not that as much as him taking a more deserving player's slot. If we are down by 8, I could care less who comes in. Pitch Moreland again.

Yes, and with JBJ's slow start, his arb number might not be too costly. Then again, that also increases his trade value and amount of teams that can afford him.

We have so little depth in the OF, I'm not sure dealing JBJ is a viable choice, unless we sign a cheap OF'er. I do not think Swihart is loved or a high use OF option.

It's not hard to imagine, without any additions, a 100 point gain at 3B, C and 2B and maybe 50 at 1B. That could take up any slack we lose from those having great years this year. We might also see JBJ add 50- 100 points to his 2018 number. Beni could bust out. I'm not sure DD brings Kimbrel back, although his history with pens might scare him into doing so.

I remember, as a 16 year old, watching the 1975 WS, keeping score of every game, and many of the events of the series. Fisk's big HR. Bernie Carbo's. Luis Tiant running the bases (and almost overrunning them). Ed Armbrister's interference no call that handed a game to the Reds. My first Sox memories are with Tommy Harper, Yaz, Rico & Luis Aparicio. I remember us finishing second to the Tigers by a half game in '72 due to the unbalanced schedule the strike caused.

I remember my dad telling me he was offered 2 tickets to the 19-8 game, but forgot tot ell me. I have never forgiven him for that!

Explain why you think this is better than that? 2 IP Wright> 5 IP Sale> 1 IP Kimbrel vs 5 IP Sale> 2 IP Wright> 1 IP Kimbrel

I have the feeling that this is our best shot at the ring though. Mookie, Bogaerts and JDM are all having career years, JBJ has expelled his offensive demons, and we have what may be the best defensive outfield in baseball. I agree. As much as last year seemed like almost everyone had down years, this one seems almost like the opposite. While I can see potential improvements at 2B & 3B next year I can also see some regression from the four I mentioned. We might see Betts & JD (or Bogey) drop 50 to 100 points, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Beni, Devers, JBJ or Vaz add 50 to 100. We have a huge opportunity to gain 100-200 points at 3B, 2B and C and maybe 1B next year. 2018 Position OPS: 3B: .711 Devers is a career .760 hitter and has .850+ potential. Nunez has a .747 OPS since 2015 and could go higher 2B: .658 Pedey's return could give us a huge lift here, but I'm not counting on it. Nunez (.747 since 2015) and Holt's .774 OPS this year offer hope for a 100+ gain. C: .533 Vaz is a career .632 hitter but was at .735 in 2017. Leon is Leon, but even his career OPS (.626) is almost 100 points higher than .533. 1B: .794 Moreland is not likely to hit .894 next year, but maybe we can add a key piece here. Chavis, Ockimey & Dalbec are long shots. I don't think next years is going to be any better than this year, and if the Yankees get a competent manager they could very well be the odds-on favorite in 2019. I think a lot will have to depend on what our budget will be next year and how we fill Kimbrel's shoes.

Kimbrel and maybe Perce are the only crucial core members reaching free agency. The window is still open for another year.

I'd take any of the 4 AL teams against all the NL teams.

That's a big part of what baseball is all about. A 5 game series makes it nearly "all bets off."

Chip Haywire

Agreed, that's why a said "a playoff series" not this one.

Other than throwing BP... ...like making a playoff roster.

A quick look at 2019 before the big game tomorrow. 37 Players (listed by seniority on 40 man roster) Red- perhaps on roster bubble Pedroia Wright Vazquez Holt Bradley Workman Bogaerts Betts Hembree Barnes Swihart Rodriguez Porcello Johnson Hernandez Price Smith Leon Benintendi Scott Thornburg Sale (option) Moreland Velazquez Travis Maddox Lin Devers Nunez (option) Shepherd Martinez Poyner Walden Haley Cuevas Brasier Renda Rule 5: Victor Acosta Christopher Acosta Yoan Aybar Roldani Baldwin Trey Ball Juan Barriento Edilson Batista Eduard Bazardo Jordan Betts Marino Campana Rusney Castillo Michael Chavis Luis Colmenares Eduard Conde Harrison Cooney Jake Cosart Ricardo Cubillan Enmanuel De Jesus Chad De La Guerra Jhonathan Diaz Jerry Downs Nick Duron Junior Espinoza Willis Figueroa Devon Fisher Austin Glorius Daniel Gonzalez Juan Hernandez Darwinzon Hernandez Oscar Hernandez Tyler Hill Dedgar Jimenez Trevor Kelley Trenton Kemp Matt Kent Travis Lakins Marcos Lantigua Adam Lau Deiner Lopez Isaias Lucena Chris Madera Danny Mars Algenis Martinez Tate Matheny Kevin McAvoy Daniel McGrath Samuel Miranda Joseph Monge Mark Montgomery Jhon Nunez Josh Ockimey Angel Padron Yorvin Pantoja Yankory Pimentel Roniel Raudes Austin Rei Hildemaro Requena Denyi Reyes Eddy Reynoso Jeremy Rivera Jake Romanski Teddy Stankiewicz Kevin Steen Cole Sturgeon Josh Taylor Luke Tendler Josh Tobias Carlos Tovar Kyri Washington Jantzen Witte Kyle Wren