moonslav59

He's our first option, so in that sense, he's "holding up" other signings, but IMO, it's holding up other teams' signings not ours. We won't sign Darvish, Arrieta or LoMo, unless we miss out on JD. I still do not feel the JD signing delay is keeping us from extending Pom, Kimbrel of anyone else.

To me, it's more about most of the biggest spending teams resetting their luxury tax this year, and not so much about who will be free agents next winter. Just taking LAD and NYY out of the big free agent sweepstakes is reason enough for a slow-to-develop or "cautious market."

2014-2017 Power Leaders (1500+ PAs) ISO 4. JD Martinez .274 13. L. Duda .242 24. J Abreu .224 26. Frazier .221 30. Machado .213 40. B. Belt .206 46. Moustakas .201 53. L. Morrison .196 SLG 2. JD Martinez .574 13. J. Abreu .524 27. Machado .492 33. L Duda .480 41. B Belt .471 51. Frazier .464 57. Moustakas .459 87. Morrison .438 I'm still thinking, if we go for a pitcher, instead of JD, Lucas Duda might be an inexpensive power addition to our roster. 2017 only (450+ PAs) ISO 1. JD .387 10. Duda .279 15. Morrison .270 28. Morrison .249 29. J Abreu .248 SLG 1. JD .690 15. Abreu .552 33. Moose .521 36. Morrison .516 50. L Duda .496

It's my belief that we reset the luxury tax for a reason. We are going to spend big this winter- possibly to the point where we blow by the second tax penalty limit to just below the third limit. It's either JD or about the same money spent on others (LoMo & Darvish or Nunez & Arrieta?). I don't think we'll spend less, because we want to extend Pom or Kimbrel. I'm thinking we might look at QO offers for both as a way to rebuild the farm while replacing these two, in kind, by signing someone else with no QOs attached next winter.

Assuming normal health, I think our pen is a strength. We are strong and deep. Closer: Kimbrel 2. Smith 3. Thornburg 4. Kelly 5. Barnes 6. Scott 7. Hembree (out of options) 8. Wright (when ERod returns to the rotation) 9. Workman (AAA) 10. Maddox (AAA) 11. Taylor (AAA) 12. Martin/Buttrey/Poyner/Jerez/Cuevas (AAA) Converted starters? Johnson, Velazquez, Elias, Beeks, Shepherd, Shawaryn & Haley

If he "aged like HRam", he'd have already been showing signs of decline.

Isn't there no QO for Darvish. He was traded.

Mouse has one negative UZR year and you write him off as replacement level on defense, yet you discount all the "fun" that went with his 38 dingers in 2017. BTW, if Moose and his +4.5 career UZR/150 is replacement level on defense, what is Devers and his -12.7 UZR/150? Only 6 3Bmen have a better UZR/150 and more innings at 3B since 2012. Moose places 12th out of 35 3Bmen on defense since 2012 (17th in DRS). That's better than average and far from replacement level.

After a championship, our pick will be low anyway.

MLBTR... While free agent third baseman Mike Moustakas hasn’t drawn much reported interest of late, that wasn’t the case early in the offseason, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com writes. However, teams that initially pursued Moustakas balked at his asking price, Feinsand adds. Now, at least one general manager expects Moustakas to land a far less valuable deal than some outlets – including MLBTR – projected entering the offseason. “When you see what (Jay) Bruce got from the Mets, it’s hard to see Moustakas getting more than that,” said the GM, referring to Bruce’s three-year, $39MM contract. While Bruce will play his age-31 season in 2018 and Moustakas won’t turn 30 until September, the former did not enter the winter with a qualifying offer attached. Moustakas did, which is among a few factors that have worked against him on the market, as Feinsand details in his piece. Makes me wonder how much we might have gotten Moose for. Had we gotten him instead of Moreland, we might have been able to pass on JD and end up with Moose and Darvish with Devers playing 1B and/or DH. Less than $39M/3 looks like a steal against $125M/5 for JD.

MLBTR... Red Sox left-hander Brian Johnson has drawn trade interest this offseason, Cafardo reports. The hurler is out of minor league options, meaning the Red Sox could lose him to waivers if they don’t trade him and he doesn’t make their 25-man roster, Cafardo notes. Johnson, a first-round pick of the Red Sox in 2012 and a former top 100 prospect, has seen minimal big league action to this point (31 1/3 innings). The 27-year-old tossed 27 1/3 major league frames across five starts last season and did OK, notching a 4.33 ERA/4.90 FIP with 7.0 K/9 and 2.67 BB/9. Johnson fared better over 90 1/3 Triple-A innings (3.09 ERA/4.19 FIP, 6.97 K/9, 2.79 BB/9).

Before last year's World Series, Yu had 3 decent playoof starts out of 4 starts. IP H ER 6.2 5 2 5.0 5 5 5.0 2 1 6.1 6 1 (3.52 ERA combined)

1) Red Sox left-hander Chris Sale wasn’t as effective in the second half of last season as he was during the first, which has led to a change in routine this winter for the 28-year-old ace, as he explained to Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. “I’ve made a couple tweaks to my throwing this year,” Sale said. “Started a bit later trying to ease into it a little more. In terms of working out, started working out earlier, doing pilates. The same things I’ve been doing conditioning and strength wise, just kind of dialing back my throwing program.” Manager Alex Cora, pitching coach Dana LeVangie and the Red Sox trainers are all on board with the changes, per Sale, who insists it won’t mean a lighter workload in 2018. Rather, after leading the American League with 214 1/3 innings last season, he expects to be similarly durable this year. 2) Although Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel is entering a contract year, he and the club have not discussed an extension. The 29-year-old Kimbrel is open to staying with the Sox for the long haul, though, as Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald relays. While Kimbrel has been an elite closer for most of his career, including during an otherworldly 2017 in which he logged a 1.43 ERA with 16.43 K/9 and 1.83 BB/9 over 69 innings, new manager Alex Cora may use him earlier in games this year if the situation calls for it. Kimbrel addressed that, saying: “There will definitely have to be a plan in place, and it’s going to come from both sides, mine and his side. I’m sure we’ll be able to talk something out and it’s going to be based off workload and things like that. It’s just the way the game is going.” Mastrodonato posits that fewer saves in 2018 could mean fewer dollars for Kimbrel on his next contract, though I’d argue that teams already know what he’s capable of in the ninth inning. Thriving in a slightly different role could make him all the more attractive as a free agent, then.

I'm not sure Darvish + Nunez will prove to be better than JD, especially if Pedey comes back, but on paper, it's close. I'd rather go LoMo & a solid starter. At least he brings a chance for a solid clean-up hitter to the roster.

I would hope that DD has reached out to secondary option players' agents and told them to check in before signing elsewhere. The JD hold up might be the reason nobody else has signed, as they are all waiting in hopes that Boston might join in their bidding once they pass or miss out on JD. Of course this is all speculation on my part, but I do feel like there should be no sense of urgency until the secondary options are ready to sign. My hope is DD is on top of things and will issue an ultimatum to JD once his other options are getting ready to go away.

Is paying JD $135M/5 not $125M/5 going to make a difference in the offer to Pom? My guess is DD is not interested in a Pom extension. If Pom repeats 2017, he offers him a QO and it's win-win no matter what pom decides. If Pom struggles, then he did the right thing by no extending him now. I know it's more complicated than this, but even with all the gray area in between, extending Pom is not a no brainer.

Preferring the OF is not demanding the OF. Nunez played the best few months of his career with us. There's no guarantee that will be the same Nunez for the next 2 years. Don't get me wrong, I like Nunez, even though he is not that good defensively, and if Pedey returns healthy for 1.5 years of the next 2 years, Nunez has no position to play. JD will play DH FT and can cover the OF'ers when they need a break. That allows Moreland and HRam to play 1B and DH when JD is not. There's no squeeze with JD on the roster. In fact, having JD makes HRam not vesting a legitimate baseball decision and not some unethical choice made by DD/Cora. It's a perfect fit. We need a clean-up hitter more than anything else--certainly more than a utility player, no matter how good he might be. I'm pretty sure the possible upgrade from Marco/Lin/Holt/Marrero/Quiroz to Nunez is not as much that from JD over HRam for 1 or two years & who knows who after that.

It shouldn't take months to sign your name on a contract. Seriously, how long should negotiating an extension take? Besides, negotiating during ST'ing is not a big no-no.

Why is it so "disturbing?" There's months to go before opening day. Maybe, DD knows he does not want to pay Pom what he is likely to get/want. Maybe his plan is to offer him a QO. I seriously doubt DD is spending every waking moment trying to decide if he will up his offer to JD or not.

I'd be fine with that. I might even like it more than JD at $125M/5, but I'd also be fine with just JD.

Maybe DD is not interested is extending Pom. Maybe DD is close to making an offer. I know we don't want to be negotiating during the season, so time is getting short, assuming an extension is desired, but it's not that late in the winter. I think we just are all accustomed to having winter all wrapped up by now. Relax. Winter is a long season.

Less than JD by enough to sign someone like Nunez, too. Arrieta, Cobb and Lynn are also secondary options.

So Nunez is far more better than Marco/Lin/Holt then Pedey than JD is over HRam's one year of team control coming off surgery? I get the money savings would allow us to add someone else, but Nunez is not better than JD. We do have a position for JD: DH. We won't have a position for Nunez when Pedey returns.

LOL! If DD wanted to extend Pom now, he could do it now. Is Pom going to walk, because he wasn't presented with an offer in January rather than February?

I get it. Although no big free agents have signed with anybody, other teams have added big-named players via trades. Bringing Moreland back is not really adding anything. I'm confident we add a key piece from free agency. I'm not worried. I don't think we need to present a now-or-never offer just to placate some restless fans. If we get to the point where we may lose out on Darvish or other secondary options, then hell yes! Tell Boras, "It's now or never." I don't think we are at the point in time right now. It's not like the government is shut down or something! Errr, wait...