moonslav59

We have two catchers who have relationships with our staff already established. Teams with only 1 catcher or even just one questionable catcher may think Swihart has more value to them. By saying Swihart has more value to us, seemingly implies you think Leon is the worst back-up catcher in MLB or that the Vaz-Leon tandem is worse than every other team. IMO, Swihart has more value to a team looking to contend or rebuild, and that has worse catchers than Vaz/Leon. That might only be 5-10 teams, but those team should be looking at Swihart as a possible upgrade. Again, I'm not for trading Swihart, but his value to us as a 1Bman and LF'er is pretty slight. Once Pedey comes back, Nunez will be our 4th OF'er with JD playing OF in NL parks. Unless and OF'er gets hurt, I don't see Swihart getting much OF time. His PAs at 1B depend largely on HRam's health and production and how well Moreland is doing. While both of those positions do hold some value to us, at least until Pedey returns, I think Swihart's value might be higher on another team. Last year, 6 teams had a team catcher OPS of below .633. and 12 were under .702. (The Sox were at .693- ranked 20th, but due to good defense, we ranked 17th in WAR.)

No, he may play more than Moreland, because he can play some at 3rd catcher, some LF and some 1B, while Moreland will only play 1B, if HRam is not raking. I did say that he "may" play more than Moreland, "if HRam is hot." I don't think that implies he will hit (or play) better than Moreland, although I think he might.

Maybe I'm being a homer for holding out hope that Swihart sees his value rise this season, either as a Sox player or in trade value. I doubt we get much in trade right now, even if we turn it into a 2 for 1 trade that might help solve our mini-roster crunch problem that lies on the horizon with Pedey's return. Even if a GM values Swihart as highly as some of us do, I'm not sure the return in trade would be worth it. I'm hoping we keep Swihart and see what he's got. Yes, we risk a second chance at trading him while his value has peaked (although this peak is lower than the one years ago), but with our catching tandem having a record of being horrendous on offense for long stretches, keeping a 3rd catcher/utility guy on the 25 man roster probably gives us more bang for the buck than any other bench player playing on a team full of full time players not needing replacement, except for maybe a late inning defensive type here and there. Swihart will play more than whichever one we keep from Holt or Marrero. He may even play more than Moreland, if HRam is hot out of the gate. If Leon catches every 5th start, Swi may end up with more PAs than him, too. I wouldn't trade Swihart, until Pedey returns, if ever.

Cesspool or not, watching these kids play with a passion long ago lost in the NBA is very exciting, to me.

I agree. I see Moreland like a Chris Young- an expensive sub. He may end up playing vs close to half the RH'd starters. Is the plan to schedule OF'er rest only at NL parks, in order to maximize JD's PAs at OF/DH? If we end up playing JD in the OF in some AL parks, it means HRam DHs and Moreland plays 1B. I guess when Pedey returns, Nunez could play the OF, instead of JD- keeping Moreland or HRam on the bench. On a team with a very limited summer spending budget or facing the risk of majorpenalties for going $40+M over the limit, I'd think spending $6.5M x 2 on a back up is a luxury we could not afford. We need pitching. We need more power. Moreland is neither. 1Bmen are easy to find or acquire mid season. Last season was a prime example.

If Ben had signed Moreland, only to watch equal or better players sign weeks later, he'd be roasted and toasted for not having vision or being cluelss about the trending market and player value. That was my point about "hindsight" criticism. DD is getting a free pass from those who bashed Ben for overpaying Pablo & HRam, when the HRam deal was viewed as a mild steal at the time. Hindsight bashing is fine for Ben, but not for DD, since there's "no way he could have known the market value was going to drop" for better players. One could argue there's no way Ben could know Pablo was going to fall off a cliff just as he entered prime and HRam would injure both shoulders in his first 2 years of his contract. Look, I get the pricing hindsight argument, and I was prepared to pay Duda the projected $6M/1 by MLBTR as a better deal that Moreland's 2 year deal nobody projected (and $6.5M a year). That was foresight. What was the hurry to lock up Moreland before finding out what the hell was going on with teh slow market. Surely, one could think there was a possibility some bargains would be available later on, and with the glut of quality 1B/DH types on this winter's market, there's just no way DD would have been shut out on finding a 1B partener with HRam. Sure, the Moose contract was shocking, and the Morrison one almost as shocking, but why is DD not held to the same standard as Ben?He missed a chance to cash in on the trend in an off season where he was the biggest spender in the market. Okay, okay, he didn't totally miss out. He got JD at a good rate. It's hard to know what Nunez's competition was. I don't fault him for those two signings. I'm not a DD basher. I've been critical of his long term plan and the Moreland signing, but I like DD and love the team we have right now, except for Moreland and Holt (eating up over $8.5M).

We could have added that $2-3M difference plus the $2M for Holt and the $4-5M we have already, and we're looking at maybe a $10M get vs a $5M one mid season. (Who knows, maybe Cobb could behad for $10M.)

Then tell others to stop saying my position is "hindsight".

If HRam vests, kiss the extensions good bye or face the mega penalties associated with going over $40M. Close the window a year or two earlier. Yes, win now is great, but I thought you cared more about the future. Keeping HRam means getting rid of Pom or Kimbrel (we probably lose one anyway- now it's both), or take the mega penalty and further hurt our chances at rebuilding after the window closes.

It should be! WOW!

...and a blow out to boot! I have Xavier in one pool and Duke in another.

Rick's going to be fine,

Moose>LoMo and cheaper!

Excellent post. The Yanks did have a great winter. I like our chances, though.

Again, it's not hindsight for me. I hated the signing before it even happened.

We all know what Moreland is. He's been about the same every year.

It starts in 2020 and runs to his age 34 season. Good deal for both sides. I think Mookie would get something similar.

Well, year 4 would be a contract year again, so he'll be trying hard. I just don't think, no matter how well HRam does, he'll be worth $22M next winter.

Well, top one is also top 3.

If he plays very well this season, he will likely suck next year. I'm not saying we will bench him, if he's doing very well, since that depends on how well Moreland and Swihart are doing.

It's not the "overpay" I complained about. It was the fact that our team need to add power, 1st base is THE power position, and yet we chose to stay the same by signing Moreland. There were so many other 1Bmen available that the chances we'd miss out on one by waiting was just a plain silly argument. Duda (or even Moreland) could have been a fall back AFTER we signed JD. The other thing that bugs me is that everyone bashes Ben in "hindsight", when actually after the HRam signing, experts said it was a steal for the Sox, but nobody is allowed to hindsight criticize DD. (and with me, it's not hindsight: I wanted Duda, Morrison of Moose from day one.)

Why is it okay to say Gray and Tanaka were previous aces and leave it at that, but we can't say the same for Porcello & Pom? We have 4 guys who have pitched like aces for extended times: Sale, Price, Porcello and Pom with ERod being a highly promising pitcher who may finally be over his knee issues.

Who? Every poster I read knows we have a ton of "ifs" to make this season special. We are not even a top 3 favorite to win it all. I bet jackson thinks the Yanks are top 3.

I totally agree. I remember writing after the horrible 2015 season, that even if HRam hit .330 40 130 in 2016, I'd trade him. That position did not go over too well. We should have traded him after his decent 2016 season. Now, we have to play Moreland to keep HRam's PAs low enough not to vest. Pure insanity. It could have been Duda for sure. It should have been Moose. (or Morrison by dumping Holt, too.)

Moreland got $5.5M last year and did better than expected. Although MLBTR did not have him ranked on their list, so many posters on this site say he was worth the signing. That should prove he was worth it, right? (Sarcasm alert)