moonslav59

First of all, I'm not complaining. I said, I liked the JD signing. I'm just saying, in hindsight- and that's how GMs are all to often judged- these bargain deals look like massive steals by other GMs.

I'm not big on attaching any significance to ST'ing numbers, but these are somewhat eye-opening: OPS (18+ PAs) 1.383 Bogey (Looks like the wrist is healed.) 1.328 Beni (Big bump from Beni would be huge.) 1.197 Swihart (Keep it up Swi!) 1.130 Devers (Does this guy ever not hit well?)

We don't really know this. We have ERod and Wright returning at some point- maybe earlier than we think. If Pom stays healthy, we could be okay with just needing one 6th starter until one of those two return. I'd like to add some inexpensive depth, but I'm not sure what's left. Johnson has been on the 40 man roster since 2015. He's dealt with health issues here and there, but he's 27 now and has plkayed 3 years of college ball and 8 years of professional ball. It's finally time, once and for all, to find out what this guy can do. If he fails, we can finally clear his dead weight roster spot. If he does well, we'll have save money for a summer pick-up. Velazquez is 29. He's played in professional ball since 2010 and been under a 3.00 ERA for the last 3 years in a row. I'd like to see what he's got. He looked good in a tiny sample size last year, so let him show what he's got. Keep a short leash on both of these guys, and if the suck, trade for a guy and use the $4M remaining on a pro-rated deal. Also, Elias looked good in Seatlle for a year or two. He's been on the 40 man since 2015. He also has dealt with injuries, but has looked good so far this Spring and had a nice winter league session. I'm not going to say, "He deserves a shot," but I wouldn't be very surprised, if he does well when called upon. Beeks, Haley and Shepherd are a long shots.

They may be poised to swoop in on Arrieta at $9M x 1 or something like that!

Why would I want to move my young 3B to DH so early in his career? You don't think it would have devastating effect on him? Essentially you're saying Devers can't play defense at major league level. So you lie to him and say but we want you to keep practicing at 3B? I'd like to give time to Devers to develop his defense at 3B, but when a guy like Moose comes around at $7M/1, and you had a way to make him fit, you could jump at it. Devers' defense is a significant negative right now, and we have a short window to win it all. Devers could still have played 3B when Moose rested, and we could have DH'd Moose some, too. You're better poker player than I am. DD jumped on first chance to stabilize 1B spot. I think he likes Moreland. There's no way I waited until March 9th sign a position player. JD was different. DD realized JD did not have much of an alternative. He's going to make more money as DH than Ortiz ever did. I get this, and that's why I prefaced my statement with, "In hindsight, we may look back..." DD did not know prices were going to drop this much. Again, I like the JD signing, but these bargain deals look too good to not think, "what if...?"

Yeah, who would want Moustakas over Marrero or Holt. (Sarcasm alert) We could also have traded players (Leon or Swihart) to make room for more bargain basement signings. I hated the Moreland signing, but now it looks worse then awful. I'm not complaining about the JD signing. I liked it. I'm just saying we may look back and say we'd have done better with this... instead of that... This... Morrison (1B) Moustakas (3B) (Devers to DH) Nunez Pitcher instead of.... JDM Moreland Nunez

Moustakas signs for $6.5M! What a steal! $5.5M/1 $1M buyout on mutual option 2nd year at $15M. I'm starting to wonder, if we might have spent our money in a better way. Low risk- short term deals to 3-4 players instead of one big one for JD.

Another 200 to go?

Yes, and a decision to make about where Nunez gets continued PAs. At that time, we might have a catcher on the DL or know enough about Swihart's relationship with our staff to feel secure enough to trade or dump Leon. Another option would be to trade JBJ for a SP'er, use JD and Nunez in LF and move Beni to CF. This seriously hurts our OF defense, but the offense could be stronger. How good the pitcher we get in return would be the key for me agreeing with this plan. Swihart could then play some DH or 1B or LF as HRam DHs or sits so as not to vest. There's all kinds of scenarios that could allow Swihart to play more often, if he is doing well. If he's not doing well, the choice will actually be easier. I'm hopeful.

He does have 4 arb years starting in 2019. Vaz and Leon have 2 more arb years.

I can see not wanting to carry 3 catchers, but since Swihart can play 1B & LF, I think we can make it work, even if just for the first part of the season. I would not trade Swihart after a small ST'ing bump in his value. He could end up being worth much much more.

I don't think Swihart will start at the catcher position much, but he probably would be the best offense at the position of the 3.

I'm for keeping Swihart, at least for a few more months. I wanted him to stay, even before his hot start. If he fizzles out, it's not like we can later say, we missed a chance at getting someone really good in March. I like the idea of being able to PH for a catcher- maybe even twice in a game. Our catching position is, by far, our weakest offensive position. Swihart can also play 1b and OF, so we can avoid playing JD in the OF, if Swihart hits well this year.

I'm not thinking we'd get anyone great- just someone slightly better at a position of need in exchange for 2 guys with no options. The overall return value could even be a little less, if it's a position of need and we clear up roster issues from all these out-of-options players.

Yes, of course. If we need a starter in late May, then we may have to look then. We may need two of the four right away (My guess is the out-of-options Johnson plus Velazquez. If one fails, or someone else gets hurt, we can try Elias or Beeks. It will take 2-3 starts to see, if they can work out, so that's two weeks each. I get the argument that trying these 4 guys first and watching them all fail, could put us in a bind for the playoffs or home field advantage, but I'm not convinced Lackey or Dickey are significant enough upgrades to pay more for and cut into our spending budget for the summer.

I actually think one or two of these four will be alright. Johnsom Velazquez Elias Beeks I just hope we don;t have to go through 2-3 massive failures to find the one or two that work out.

Don't count out Elias.

I figure us for having about $4M, but it could be as high as $6M. If we trade or DFA Holt, that's another $2M. We could part ways with Leon (against my wishes). Even if we end up with $5-6M to spend, we can pick up a pretty high-priced rental in July at a pro-rated cost. An $18M pitcher would only cost about $6M if acquired on July 31st. That's a chance at a very good pitcher while us staying below the max penalty limit. If we could get the the number to $8M, we could trade for 2 guys making $12M each (prorated to two times $4M). There's ways to get stronger for the playoffs without blowing all our budget space with a march panic plan. Sure, sign some vets to minor league deals that don't add hardly anything over the guy we let go to make room for them. Better yet, sign them to a non-40 man roster slot with an opt out clause by a certain date. That's fine. Just don't cut into the $4M we have now.

No, but we have Elias and Beeks as well. Can you guarantee Lackey or Dickey are not toast? I'm not against signing 5 guys like Dickey or Lackey to minor league deals, but I want to keep the $4M for a "real pitcher" in July, if needed.

So, which one from Lackey or Dickey or Johnson/Velazquez/Elias/Bekks ("the field") will look better in October? I'll go with that one. When you figure out which one it is, let me know. I'll gamble on "the field", save the money for a summer acquisition, and pray our starter injuries are kept to a minimum.

Cora wants Travis to learn the OF: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/red_sox/2018/03/red_sox_notebook_sam_travis_shows_off_power A talk with Beeks: http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2018/03/04/jalen-beeks-has-built-himself-future-big-leagues/0CYiIvjWKqLLG4ntQsi1II/story.html Word on Buttrey's chang-up: http://www.masslive.com/redsox/index.ssf/2018/03/ty_buttrey_boston_red_sox_pros_2.html A talk with Tanner Houck: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/red_sox/2018/03/red_sox_prospect_tanner_houck_aims_to_force_his_way_through_pipeline Notes from soxprospects.com: Blake Swihart has caught and played first base so far this spring, and getting playing time in the outfield seems like a good possibility for the soon-to-be 26-year-old. With his talent and the way he is hitting this spring he has earned a spot on a major league roster, and if that team is the Red Sox he will need to play multiple positions with Christian Vazquez and Sandy Leon on the roster. With Steven Wright and Eduardo Rodriguez unlikely to be healthy enough for Opening Day and Drew Pomeranz now dealing with a mild flexor strain in his left forearm, Brian Johnson is the top in-house candidate to open the season as the fifth starter. Johnson has allowed two hits and struck out two without allowing a walk in his four innings this spring, including two scoreless innings against the Yankees on Saturday. Positional versatility is clearly a desirable trait for Alex Cora, and he has mentioned Marwin Gonzalez a few times this spring as he stresses the importance of a player being able to field multiple positions. Cora coached Gonzalez on the Astros last season, and Gonzalez played every outfield position and every infield position except for catcher, all while hitting .303. In addition to Travis, Cora has played Esteban Quiroz in the outfield this spring even though he was exclusively an infielder over the last two years.

They both looked the same in March of those seasons.

I'd say they are close enough to even with those two old fogies, but to me, it's more about saving luxury tax money. I'm fine with signing Lackey or Dickey to a minor league only deal, but they will want incentives or bonuses that could bring us too close to the major tax limit and disallow any mid season move we might need badly. We can sign two $1M guys now or trade for a $6M guy on July 31st, and both plans cost us $2M. I'll wait it out for the $6M guy and hope an in house guys rises to the occasion. How long are we going to keep never knowing about Johnson and Elias? Guys like Velazquez would never get a chance. Fister was a lightening strike. Most of those type signings never work out. Same as giving guys like Johnson, Elias and Velazquez a final chance. At least we'll know, if we should keep them around any longer.

Perhaps the best defensive position Nunez plays is LF, and with no OF depth, except the "fragile" JDM, maybe Nunez sees more action in the OF than IF once Pedey returns. I'm not even talking out of injury. We could see JBJ slumping or Beni struggling vs lefties by June, and maybe Nunez plays the OF. (This assumes Pedey comes back FT at 2B.

Probably Nunez would be the guy. His good offense would hopefully outweigh the poor defense. Marrero & Lin could be defensive replacements.