moonslav59

I see some areas I'd love to upgrade in a big way. It's not that I don't want some of the players you have mentioned. I'm sure DD would like to have some, too. The problem is, we have very little budget space and very few ML ready prospects not on the DL or just coming off PED suspension. We can't afford to trade existing key players, because it would just open up another hole that I feel is bigger than any "hole" we have now. Would it be nice to get an ace for the playoffs? Hell, yes! But, trading Beni and/or Bogey to get one solves a smaller problem than the one(s) it creates. Would it be nice to get a great 2Bman? HELL, YES! But again, we don't have the pieces to get one. DD has gone all out to build the team we have. It's not a perfect team. It has some areas that could use upgrades- no doubt, but he's done just about all that can be done, exept for some minor tweaks. I'll be shocked, if we get anyone like degrom, Dozier, Abreu, Gennett or Merrifield. You keep asking me about a big trade like these, and my answer is always the same. I'm glad you finally asked about a trade I feel might be more reasonable. I do think we might be able to trade for a pretty good set-up man, perhaps even someone who is a closer now. I'm no expert on RP'ers from other teams, but I have mentioned the A's Treinen and the CWS' Soria (with cash). I'm not seeing any marlin pen arms I like, except maybe Barraclough, but he could just be a flash in the pan.

I'm not sure GMs assign value based on just what you've done for the last 3 months. Someone might want Nunez. We don't need anything in return, except the freed up salary space. Then, Phillips could come up and do just as poorly as Nunez has been doing.

Bogey's 25, but he only has one more arb year left, while degrom has 2 left. We're not trading Beni, but the Bogey idea has more of a chance. Our problem is, who plays SS? Lin & Holt? Then, that forces Nunez to play 2B FT, or we call up Phillips. I always love any idea that upgrades our rotation from the top and not the middle or bottom, but I just don't see us having the right pieces to make it happen.

He's Moreland's insurance. They both bat LH'd, so he's not a good platoon match-up with Moreland-- like Pearce is. Lind will never get called up, unless MM goes on the DL or when September call-ups occur.

Yes, Beni is our only sure bet star signed beyond 3 years. (Okay, maybe Devers makes two.)

DD already got all the big fish he could afford. I'm nearly certain he won't do anything as bold as you are suggesting.

Near minimum, so even if we replace him with a minor leaguer, we save nothing.

I don't disagree with anything here, but if we have to free up some money, maybe we will trade Nunez or Holt and use Phillips to fill in for the one we trade.

I wouldn't give either one, and I'm all about great SP'ers. If we had another SS, I'd think about Bogey, but beni has way too many years of team control to even consider a deal like this.

Word is that we got cash with Pearce, so maybe we're not over the limit. Trade season officially started for the Red Sox on Thursday night, when president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski reeled in veteran right-handed hitter Steve Pearce and cash considerations from the Blue Jays in exchange for Minor League infielder Santiago Espinal.

You just said you did not want to trade JBJ.

Agreed. DD spent $8M on Nunez as insurance against Pedey. He's not goingto spend more on insurance against Nunez.

Are we going to stay over the max penalty line? I have us going over by more than $1M with this deal. Trading Swihart is not going to free up anything. If we are going to get a RP'er, we may go even farther over. I wonder, if we might look to trade Pom, when he returns or who else? Leon? I doubt they trust Swihart that much. Kelly? We need him. Thornburg? Who wants him? Holt or Nunez? With Pedey looking less and less likely, we need both. Maybe we'll just bite the bullet and get the penalties, but if that's the case, why didn't we go larger?

He's got about 20 HR power and bats RH'd. Career splits: .840 vs LHPs .738 vs RHPs He's at .866 vs LHPs since 2014. Just what we needed. He'll help Moreland out at 1B and maybe platoon there, and he can play the OF vs tough lefties. He can also DH, when needed. He's still owed over $3M this year, so we'll be over the max limit, unless we dump salary somewhere else. Hmm....

Of course, it's not a no-brainer. There are several major pluses and minuses on both sides of the choice. As of right now, I'd give him a 10 year extension at $300M starting after his last arb year. I might go $350M/12 right now buying out his arb years.

Summer 7-9 Slot Update Sox 4-9 (6/28) 6-12 (6/27) 5-12 (6/26) 4-8 (6/24) 1-10 (6/23) 6-15 (6/22) 5-13 (6/21) 31-79 (.392) Yanks 0-8 (6/27 includes pitcher slot) 1-12 (6/26) 1-12 (6/25) 2-15 (6/24) 1-9 (6/23) 1-9 (6/22) 0-10 (6/21) 6-75 (.080) I keep thinking our numbers will start to level off or go down, but they don't. The sample size is growing larger and larger. The gap keeps closing. What was once viewed as our weakness might turn out to be a strength.

Bottom of the order update pending....

JBJ is officially back!

All of the above plus replacing Swihart.

Yes, us. Good post.

I agree, but nobody will be signing him for his defense, and his defense is not going to up his value more than where it is now. If he does great for 2 full seasons with us and opts out, I would not be surprised if he ends up back here at just a little more per year or for a longer term deal at a similar $/yr rate. Maybe by then, he won't hate the DH'ing so much. Maybe he'll look for a place he can play OF more often. My guess is, if he does great, plays nearly every game and has a ring on his finger, he'll want to stay put.

While true, the odds makers will be looking closely at the SP'ers and home field when setting the odds.

I hope when Pom and or Wright come back, Cora uses the opportunity to give our starters, particularly Sale, a few extra days here and there. Without Sale in top form come October, our ring chances are severely diminished. To me, it's more important than winning the division and avoiding the play-in game.

I'm not arguing against Bird's upside potential. His minor league numbers show a lot of promise. His brief time in 2015 showed promise. My point was that JBJ had proven numerous times that he can put together long and good enough streaks to get his seasonal numbers to respectability. Bird has never played even close to a full MLB season. All bets are off. We can't "expect" anything.

I'd prefer yes, but either way, all teams should follow the same rules.