moonslav59

If everyone around you is racist, it's okay to be one, too. I'll teach that one to my children.

What's weird is that "older FAs" signed last winter year actually did pretty good in 2017.

Again, one year does not project to the following year. If Pedey continues as a negative O WAR batter, then of course we change the plan.

I think the fact that nobody is signing has added to the frustration level. If he does not want to play for us, we'll find out at some point. If other options are close to signing before we find out, we may need to move on or issue an ultimatum. Until then, I don't think we should pass on our first option based on what JD said or might have said.

Yes. He might be frustrated and antsy. He might have said something to a friend that seems out of line. None of this concerns me. If he signs with us, it will be because he wants to play here. He's had more time to think about it than CC and Renteria had.

If we told Nunez, we plan on DH'ing Pedey a lot going forward, he might be more inclined to sign here. If we sign JD, we'd have to convince him to be our supersub. He'd squeeze most of the ABs from Hernandez, Brentz, Swihart (no-catching), and marrero. Holt would be traded.

If we don't sign JD, but sign Nunez to 2-3 years and Duda to 1 year, we'd be perfectly set up to sign Machado and trade Bogey for a SP'er or SP & RP or DH/4th OF type. We could use Pedey and maybe Devers at DH a bit. Nunez > hernandez.

Yes, I forgot EROD, I'll go back and add him. Thanks.

I could care less what JD says aboput negotiations. I'm not booing him opening day (assuming he signs here). If he sucks like CC did, I'll boo with everyone else. (BTW, I hated the CC signing day one, so maybe my trigger finger was twitching sooner.)

Umm, my position is that we destroyed CC.

If they "misread the market," so what? Once they realize, he's not getting anything close to the Sox offer, we can sign him at what we wanted to sign him at. Why should we "move on" from someone we wanted, at the cost we wanted him for, over some words JD said to friends? We lose, if we walk away fro a possible deal we wanted in the first place. If JD goes elsewhere, for less, good for him. We can spend the money elsewhere. But, I'm not moving off our option A, until I know it's not an option anymore.

I doubt there will be much "awkwardness", if JD signs with the Sox. (Unless he sucks out of the gate.)

I'm in Maine every summer and make it to a few Sox games every year. I also watch every game on TV.

I do agree that Machado over Bogey outweighs Porcello over Wright.

Again, I don't disagree, especially, if we don't sign JD this winter. Concerns with your plan... 1) Losing Kimbrel & Kelly will need serious addressing or good luck with Smith & Thornburg. 2) Arb raises might be more than you expect. Betts 2 of 3 JBJ 3 of 4 ERod 2 of 3 Smith 2 of 3 Thornburg 3 of 3 Vazquez 2 of 3 Wright 2 of 3 Workman 2 of 3 Barnes, Hembree & Swihart 1st arb years 3) Pom might cost $20M 4) Who's our DH? Chavis or Brentz? (Could be scary.) 2019 Biudget 31 Price 28 Machado 15 Betts (est) 15 Pedey 13 Sale 10 JBJ (est) 6 Kelly 3 Smith, Wright, Vazquez That's about $150M for just 10 players. Add $15M for player benefits, and we're at $165M with 30 players to pay. SP1 Sale SP2 Price SP3 Pom SP4 ERod SP5 Wright SP6 ______ (Johnson, Velazquez) (Serious issues with this rotation) RP1 _______ RP2 Smith RP3 Thornburg RP4 Barnes RP6 Hembree RP7 Scott/Workman/Maddox (We may need help with the pen after losing Kimbrel & Kelly) C: Vaz & leon/Swihart 1B: Moreland 2B: Pedey SS: Machado 3B: Devers LF: Beni CF: JBJ RF: Betts DH: ______ (Chavis/Brentz) After 2019, we lose $14M oif Pablo ($19M - $5M buyout), but Sale will get a $20M raise, and arb costs will skyrocket.

I guess we hung with different crowds back then. I saw no mercy.

From mid May 2016... IP ER (H+BB) 8.0 3 (6) 7.0 2 (9) 9.0 2 (9) 5.0 0 (8) 7.1 0 (9) 7.1 3 (9) 9.0 0 (8) From May 15th to June 24th, Wright had one of his best stretches ever. His June ERA was his second lowest of the season (1.62). On May 18th his ERA was 2.52, and on June 24th it was 2.01. (I think you missed by a month.) 14 starts is pretty impressive, and he was decent for 4 years beforehand. BTW, his ERA on AUG 25th, was still 3.01 (after 22 starts).

I also found this nugget.... So, Crawford is the biggest target and the player upon whom Red Sox fans are now directing boos, a sound foreign to him during the nine seasons he spent with the Tampa Bay Rays. "They have to boo,'' he said after Friday night's 7-6 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays in which he went hitless in five at-bats, including a three-strike punchout in the ninth that ended with him swinging at a pitch that bounced in front of the plate. "I'm playing real bad; we're playing real bad," Crawford said. "You definitely understand. You can't be upset about that. You kind of feel their frustration a little, but we're frustrated too.'' o far, Crawford's Red Sox experience has been The Nightmare on Lansdowne Street. He is now 51 at-bats into his Sox career and he has 7 hits. One has gone for extra bases. The average is .137. He has scored 3 runs and knocked in 1. He couldn't look more uncomfortable at the plate. The ump cost him an infield hit in his first at-bat Friday, but with Jacoby Ellsbury on third and one out in the seventh, Crawford managed just a shallow fly to left.

He must have heard me screaming all the way from Maine! Here's a quote from CC after being traded to LAD... "“Once I realized it and I had seven years I didn’t know what to do. It was just one of those things I had to sit out and wait. I was dealing with the struggling at the time and a bunch of other stuff. I had been in Tampa so we had been shielded from a lot of media stuff. I didn’t have to go through that stuff. That was new for me, dealing with the media and stuff like that. I didn’t how to handle all that stuff up there and it showed in my game. Then I started getting hurt all the time. It was just always bad, bad all the time.”

Wright is certainly a question mark, and with a possible suspension or distraction looming, it wouldn't surprise me to see him lose the 5 slot to Johnson, Velazquez or someone else. That being said, I've been a big Wright fan. While his start to 2017 looks like it might have been an outlier, he actually has a pretty long record of doing well. 35 GS'd and 15 RP'er appearances from 2013-2016: 20-11 3.58 (2.8 WAR) Farm: 2012: 10-7 2.54 (142 IP in AA-AAA)) winter: 0-1 2.48 (29 IP) 2013: 8-7 3.46 (135 in AAA) 2014: 6-5 3.42 (100 in AA-AAA) 2015: 2-5 3.81 (52 IP) His only bad streak since 2011 was after the injury.

Crawford was crucified then buried.

Porcello, looks to me like our #5 pitcher, replace him with Wright or someone else. You guys place too much emphasis on just the most recent performance level.

By the time Macho becomes a FA, Porcello & Bogey will have one year left, so it's not so simple as swapping contract costs for Porcello & Bogey. Yes, the money in 2019 will be about even, and I'd much rather have Machado & Wright than Porcello & Bogey, but 2020 and beyond will be very costly. Yes, there will be some money, but much will be eaten by rising arb costs of Betts, JBJ, Vaz, ERod and others. I'm certainly interested in Machado, and I'd be willing to pass on JD, if it meant we got Machado. The other part of your suggestion, is what could we get by trading Bogey & Porcello after 2018? Probably something very special to add to Machado's gain. (I'm not against the idea.)

I'm cautiously optimistic, and if I had to bet, I'd put my money on Porcello improving on his 2017 numbers significantly.

“I don’t have a (timetable) on it because I really don’t know,” said Dombrowski to Rosenthal. “Perhaps if I was losing options, juggling three guys, or if we were in the starting-pitching market where there are four (top) guys, I would say, ‘Hey, I need an answer now, or I’m going to turn to this guy.’ But we’re really not in that situation.” Like I've said before, it should not be ultimatum time, until secondary options are about to sign elsewhere.