moonslav59

He did for me, after the 2007 playoffs.

Wright signs for $1.1M to avoid arb. Looks like he might be part of the team this year.

cots projected $1M. With those savings, we should be able to offer the sun & moon for JD. (LOL)

How about AGon in RF?

I'm not sure I'd call it "rash." I think the idea all along was to bring Vaz up as soon as he was ready. I believe they've always viewed Vaz as the Sox catcher of the future. Since Swihart's bat had an upside potential of being good enough to play at other positions, Sox management naturally decided, probably even before the demotion, that they would try him out at another position of to during the year. It makes total sense, to me. Even now, his best chance at making our 25 man roster, as he is out of options, is based on his ability to be a utility-type player and 2nd/3rd catcher. It was the right choice that had an unfortunate consequence when he ran into the wall.

If I am to be banned, please do it now, while there's nothing to talk about anyways!

With Moreland on board, MM seems much less likely, unless we DH Devers and bench HRam. I liked the idea of signing Moose and moving Devers to 1B.

No, but it does go to show that some GMs, not just ours, do still think he has a high ceiling possibility.

You can try Slingbox and use someone else's set-up in New England as your own, thereby watching NESN and Xtrainnings from anywhere in the world.

I totally agree. I think we can rest Betts 5-7 games, Beni 6-8 games and JBJ 16-20 games (vs tough lefties). That could give JD up to 35 games in the OF without any injuries. (Brentz would be traded or phantom DL'd.) If Moreland or HRam get hurt, JD can play FT DH. Moreland plays 1B vs all RHPs. HRam plays 1B vs all RHPs and DHs the other JD is in the OF vs RHPs. That keeps HRam below 497 PAs and his vesting option.

5 years with a 6th year team option and buyout should do. The buyout will also lessen the luxury tax hit.

Fair enough, but I feel better about our rotation this year than I did last winter before the Sale trade. Pom may regress, but you have to feel better about him now than last winter. Yes, I feel worse about Porcello now than last January, but what about "positive regression?" ERod is hurt, but we were sketchy about him last winter, too. I feel better about Sale than I did about Price last winter. That leaves Price as the wild card. I do want another SP'er. I almost always do, and I'm never for adding a 5th starter and rarely a 4th starter either. Build from the top. I just think the league is dominated by power hitters, and we are so far behind the curve, it is our top priority. That being said, I would not be upset, if we sign Darvish and not JD.

When does BorA$$ ever get the contract he starts with? $210M/7 is not realistic. I get your point about there being a limit when you walk away, but our choices are not sign JD to whatever it takes vs status quo. There are other big free agents out there beyond JD. True, we may reach a point where every big free agent we're interested in will take a deal that is above the top dollar we should pay, and we might end up settling on something near "status quo", but there's always guys like Lynn, Cobb, Bruce or slightly lesser players.

As long as a solid plan B option is still out there, and we feel we can outbid anyone for that player, we can wait as long as it takes on JD. Once all other quality options are gone, then we may be screwed. We're not at a timeline demand point yet, but if other options start signing quickly, we may have to lay one down.

MLBTR reports.... Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said the Sox “are not looking to move” Blake Swihart, despite trade interest from other teams. The last two seasons were essentially a writeoff for Swihart, due to defensive issues behind the plate and ankle injuries that limited him to just 91 minor league games and 25 MLB games in 2016-17. Still, the Sox haven’t given up on the former top prospect, with Dombrowski noting that Swihart’s positional versatility has helped add to his value for the team. While Dombrowski noted that “you could never say you would not move him or anyone else,” Swihart is “still part of our plans….Sometimes you get stuck with players who are out of options. In this case, because of his flexibility, I think we’ve got a little better chance of getting through it.”

A problem arises, if we walk away from JD after he refuses the top offer, only to find out that the demands by Darvish and Arrieta are even more overboard, then the "status quo" position comes more into play. Again, I'd at least sign a Cobb or Lynn rather than standing pat.

We got Pom for Espinoza. I think top single A prospects might have more value than you give them. A team like Miami, that is looking at noit competing for 3-5 years may very well prefer several farther away prospects over fewer ML ready ones.

We are in complete agreement. I'm not sure what my final offer would be for JD. I'm thinking my top offer might be $10-20M over the next top offer, so I'm not for putting it out there right now. I'd go as high as this or walk away and go after a top SP'er: $130M/5 ($26M x 5) with a team option 6th year at $20M with a buyout of $5M, essentially making it this.... $135M/5 or $27M x 5 (The luxury tax cost would be $135M/6 or $22.5M- a very reasonable number for us to handle) or $150M/6 at our choice. (Maybe, I add another $5M to the total package, if the top SP'er asking prices are way out of whack. There is a valid argument to be made about signing JD, Darvish or Arrieta, if all 3 are way above what we think is an acceptable overpay- then what?)

Plus, DD may have the okay to go just under the second threshold.

Let's say sign JD and we keep Pom but lose Kimbrel. How does adding JD and losing Kimbrel suddenly make us noncompetitive? I think we'll be better in 2019 than we were in 2017.

Nobody is close to offering $210M/7, and I doubt anyone is even close to offering more than $160M/6 or $135M/5, which is a more realistic number that should have been put up for debate. I get the argument about the possibility of repeating the same mistakes we made with HRam & Pablo, but I think JD is at a higher level than either of those two were when we signed them. Sure, a high risk is present. Those who are opposed to signing him have a good argument. Hell, if it ends up taking $170M/6 to get him, then that's about as much as Pablo & HRam combined.

1) I disagree that we were or are not good enough to beat CLE or HOU. Just because we are oh for the last two playoffs does not prove we need luck to beat them next time. 2) It looks like CLE is losing pieces this year, but you speak of us losing pieces next year. 3) HOU lokks very good on paper, but some of their young stars could have set backs- much like ours did from 2016 to 2017. They also have a rotation with a history of injuries and a year older Verlander. 4) Yes, we lose some key pieces over the next few years, but we also lose some dead weight (HRam, Pablo & Castillo) and a so-so player making big money (Porcello). After 2018: $22M HRam (assuming he does not get 497 PAs) $13M Kimbrel (very hard to replace in kind, but maybe Smith or Thorburg can) ~$9M Pomeranz (last arb) ~$4M Joe Kelly (last arb) $48M Total Arb raises for Betts, Bogey and JBJ could be very significant, but we may only really need to replace Pomeranz. ERod could step it up.) We should have enough money to pay the arb raises and sign one big FA (SP'er). After 2019: $20.6M Porcello (no big loss) $19M Pablo (a huge gain for us) $13.5M C Sale (Must be kept or replaced in kind to stay highly competitive) ~$10+M Bogaerts (last arb) $6.5M Moreland (easy to replace) ~$3M Thornburg (last arb) ~$2M B Holt (last arb) Total: about $57M Further arb raises for Betts and JBJ, but we should have enough money to keep Sale (Porcello $20.5M + Sale $13.5M), but we may need to try and find a SS within our system or some other cheap way. Certainly, losing Bogey, Moreland, Thornburg & Holt will pay for arb raises to Betts & JBJ and lesser players with enough left over for something significant. One can also expect our young players to improve as they reach prime years. Here's a look at our 2020 roster with my projections in place (assuming we sign JD Martinez): Assuming we lose Kimbrel, Bogey, Porcello, HRam, Thornburg, Moreland, Kelly & Holt 1. Beni LF 2. Pedey 2B 3. Betts RF 4. JD M DH 5. Devers 3B 6. Bradley CF 7. FA 1B (Travis/Ockimey?) 8. Vazquez C (Leon) 9. Chatham SS (Hernandez/Lin/Marrero) SP1: Sale SP2: Price (perhaps post surgery) SP3: Pomeranz SP4: ERod SP5: Wright/Groome/Houck/Mata RP1: Smith RP2: FA RP3: Barnes RP4: Workman RP5: Maddox RP6: Beeks RP7: Johnson/Shawaryn/Thompson/Houck/Mata This looks pretty competitive to me, and I think this is a pretty conservative view on what we do to replace departing players. We may be able to keep Kimbrel and/or Bogey and not be over the second tier luxury tax penalty. I'm pretty sure losing Pablo will help us keep Bogey, if we want him, or replace him with someone just as good or better.

Why would they care about ML ready prospects? They'd prefer lower prospects with higher ceilings, like Groome. They also need capable low cost players to fill roster spots- like Castillo, Holt & Swihart. I agree, they'd want another prospect- maybe like Brannen or Danny Diaz.

The word "signs" was in the actual headline.

The $210M/7 number BorA$$ threw out there is not happening. I don't think that's a fair "either or" to ask us about. Something like $140M/5 or $160M/6 vs status quo might be more like it. Plus, if we don't sign JD, it doesn't mean we do noting else. I hope Bruce is not plan B, but adding a solid SP'er would also not be "status quo" either. I'm confident DD does something significant, so there will be no status quo. How much of an overpay will it be, because it almost surely will be, remains to be seen.