moonslav59

JBJ has not been "platooned". Good solid takes all around.

While 2B is a key defensive position, RF in Fenway is not an easy position to fill adequately. Betts is up there with Evans as the best defensive RF'er I've ever seen in a Sox uniform. He'd have to be GG good at 2B for me to suggest moving him there.

Marrero can play 3 positions (SS, 2B & 3B) Lin can play 4+ positions (SS, 2B, 3B & OF) Hernandez can play 3 (3B, 2B & SS) Swihart can play 2 now (C & OF) but can probably play 1B and maybe 3B/2B If a 1Bman gets hurt, Travis can be called up. Holt plays 7, but when 3 of your bench players play multiple positions anyways, we don't need the 7 position guy.

He's not the one saying they need to cut $30M, but he's the one doing it (and then more).

Again, I'd rather have neither than both. Hosmer will be the biggest mistake signing this winter.

StL should be out of the running. AZ cannot afford him. To me, it's us or SF, who just cleared some salary space by dumping Moore.

I see Holt starting the season in AAA, despite Pedey being on the DL. Marrero, Brentz and Swihart are all out of options, and Leon is the back-up catcher. It seems weird to pay a guy $2M to be in AAA and be 3rd or 4th, at best, on any positional depth chart. IMO, h only becomes $2M valuable, if Pedey never returns AND one or two from Hernandez, Marrero, Lin, Brentz and Swihart bombs out or gets hurt (which is certainly possible). notin makes a great point, though, and we certainly could have found a cheaper player like Holt at any point in a season or off season.

I agree, but the premise was they needed to just cut $30M: Jeter chose to cut more. They could have set their sites on 3 years from now while they still has Stanton as the foundation. However, that was not my reasoning for my suggestion. My reasoning was that Stanton hates losing, and would have widened the team list for trades to the point where Jeter could have maximized the return. I firmly believe this, but it is just conjecture on my part. Jeter misplayed his hand, and coincidentally (I doubt it) it helped his ex-team immensely.

As of now, with Holt's issues with concussions, my depth chart looks like this: 2B: Pedey (DL), Hernandez, Lin, Marrero, Holt, Quiroz/Chavis/Swihart SS: Bogey, Hernandez, Lin, Marrero, Holt 3B: Devers, Hernandez, Lin, Marrero, Holt 1B: _______, HRam (DH?), Travis/Swihart, Chavez/Devers, Holt LF: Beni, Brentz, Lin, Swihart/Holt CF: JBJ, (Beni to CF), Lin, Holt/Brentz RF: Betts, (Beni to RF), Lin/Brentz, Holt This is the reason I have not viewed Holt as being as valuable as many here think he is. Yes, there is value in being able to play 7 positions, but when you are no higher than 3rd or 4th on any single positional depth chart, how valuable can you really be? Now, if Holt can return to his earlier form, he'd probably pass Marrero and maybe Lin at a few positions and may pass Brentz, if Bryce stinks up the place. That's why I think we wait and see before adding any more depth to the IF. See what Pedey's prognosis is in April and maybe upgrade, if it looks bleak. Look what we had to trade to get Nunez. It's not all that costly to make an in season move for a quality super sub.

He was a part time player for a long time. It wasn't injuries that limited his games played early in his career, yet people are assuming he has been chronically injured. Am I concerned about his ability to give us 650 PAs for 5-6 years? Yes, but he doesn't really have any major health problems that I know of, such as reoccurring back, ankle, wrist or knee issues.

Other teams may want to first wait until at least the end of ST'ing to see if Holt looks like the pre-concussion or post concussion Holt. Plus, until we know more about Pedey's possible return and timetable, we will probably attempt to keep all our 2B options in the system: Hernandez (starter in April?) Marrero (out of options) Holt (1 option) Lin (on 40 man roster) Quiroz (not on 40 man roster) (Chavez & Swihart????)

Who else is going to offer JD close to $150M/6? San Francisco? I can't think of others now that STL got Ozuna. If there are no other serious bidders we may luck out like CLE did with Encarnacion. The EE case may spur Bore-A$$ to mover more quickly than he previously has.

Betts is a GG quality RF who plays half his games in MLB's toughest RF. It's easier to just get a 2Bman than move Mb to 2B. I'm also not sure how Beni would do in RF.

Do you know how many season's JD missed getting over 120 games due to injury?

I don't want to trade JBJ, but if JD is pushing hard to play OF, I'd do it. Plus Archer is more valuable than JBJ.

Is this realistic? 1) Sign JD Martinez $156M/6. ($26M luxury tax) 2) Trade JBJ for prospects and flip them with Groome and Travis for Chris Archer (owed $34M/4- luxury tax $4.25M). We may save $2M on the tax budget with JBJ making ~$6M. 3) Sign Morrison $36M/3 ($12M luxury tax) Total tax hit: $36M 1. Bogey 2. Beni 3. Betts 4. JD 5. Morrison 6. Devers 7. HRam 8. Pedey (hopefully) 9. Vaz S1 Sale S2 Archer S3 Pom S4 Price S5 Porcello S6 ERod

Seems like big named players are being traded left and right....for less and less.

True, but it's not like agents have never played GMs and vice versa.

MLBTR reports... Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com and other reporters Saturday that the club had interest in Carlos Santana before he agreed to to a pact with Philadelphia on Friday. However, the Red Sox “weren’t necessarily prepared to go to the dollar amount that was there” for the first baseman, who landed a three-year, $60MM guarantee. And after suggesting at the Winter Meetings that offense-needy Boston would only add one big bat, Dombrowski doubled down on that Saturday, saying the team’s “focused on getting one person.” I'm not pretending to be smarter than DD, but why tip your hand and let Bore-A$$ know you want his guy this badly? (Assuming he's not lying.)

Since Holt, Lin and Swihart can play LF, I doubt we seek a replacement for Brentz, who is out of options. We can look for a 4th OF'er next summer, if needed. The 2B situation is more urgent, but with Hernandez, Holt, Marrero, Lin and Quiroz on the roster, I think we wait on that position as well. Signing Nunez is an option, since he can keep playing, if and when Pedey returns.

Crawford's contract ran out after this year.

1 year of Machado would be nice, but without the O's offering a window to extend. I think I'd pass. Just go for JD and let someone else make the mistake with Hosmer. JD and Duda is fine with me. JD, trade JBJ for Abreu via a 3rd team is okay.

So, this means when they need help this summer, they won't be buyers? I'll believe it when I see it.

If he f***s up and JD signs elsewhere, DD will not find another bat or bats to replace what JD would have brought. We will see lesser players signed and hope that those additions and a rebound from a few people will carry this team. There looks to be a big drop-off between JD and "the rest". As much as I love JBJ, I'd trade him for a good pitcher or Abreu, if it meant we got JD vs not getting him. What's the best of the rest? Could signing 2 of these guys make up for missing out on JD? (Contract cost estimates by MLBTR) 1B/DH Morrison $36M/3 Lucas Duda $6M/1 Hosmer $132M/6 Alonso $22M/2 3B (Devers to 1B/DH?) Mostakas $85M/2 T Frazier $33M/3 OF/DH Jay Bruce $39M/3 SP Darvish $160M/6 Arrieta $100M/4 Lance Lynn $56M/4 Greg Holland $50M/4 Alex Cobb $48M/4 Sign OF and trade JBJ for Abreu or a SP'er? Lorenzo Cain $70M/4 Jarrod Dyson $12M/2 Super Utilty Nunez$14M/2 Kendrick $12M/2 Assuming JD gets $156M/6, what combination of players would you prefer at about $160M? Here are some suggestions: A) Lynn ($56M), Cobb ($48M), Morrison ($36M), Nunez( $14M) Moustakas ($85M), Duda $6M & Lynn ($56M) C) Moustakas ($85M), Morrison $36M)- trade HRam (save $10M)- and (Alex Cobb $48M) D) Cain ($70M)- Abreu for JBJ (add $20M), Lynn ($56M) & Nunez $14M

For all we know Boras can accurately tell other teams that Martinez has an offer of X years and X dollars from other club. He could deceptively tell teams falsehoods or exaggerations.