moonslav59

What's the chances any Sox player starts out on the 60 day DL? (Q2: can a 60 day DL be made retroactive to, say, March 15th?) How about Pedey? ERod? I think Pom and Thornburg look like 15 day DLs. Hernandez might take longer, but he might not be a 60 day player. I'm not sure what good it does us, other than being able to add someone to the 40 man roster, but when a player returns, we then have to DFA/trade someone.

It wasn't about thinking Swi's bat was elite. He was our best option for LF at the time as we had just missed out on obtaining Beltran at the last minute of the trade deadline.

This was tongue and cheek and directed towards natick. Of course Swihart is tradeable. Of course JT is worth way more than Swihart.

I think the point is that we need a prospect to step up at a position where we lose someone next year, in order to maximize the benefit. Moreland is signed next year, and if several posters get their way, HRam will be back, too, no matter how well Travis is doing.

Well put. (Note: we might still have JD Martinez in 2021, but only if he's not been doing too well.)

Yes, we can afford to bench $29M in 2018 and $6.5M or $29M in 2019, so Travis can get a look-see. Yes, Travis could be one of those pieces we are looking for to get us beyond "the cliff", but too bad he won't give us any salary relief until 2020, assuming we let HRam vest like some here are unconcerned with.

I doubt anyone would even pay $12M for HRam next year after he hits .886 in 2018. There are better choices. Several players better than HRam just signed one year deals.

It's very likely that if we have HRam's $22M on the books next year, and we want to keep "the window" open for 2019, we will go over the $40M mark and see penalties imposed that grealyt affect our future beyond 2019. Draft pick moved down. International pool money significantly reduced, not to mention a huge tax imposed on Henry's wallet that might make him less likely to spend big beyond 2019.

How much better makes it a no-brainer to play HRam every game? Can HRam rake much better than Moreland/Swihart/Nunez? Of course, he can. I'm actually very optimistic that the surgery will help HRam have a good season, maybe like 2016- maybe a little better. 2016: .286 30 11 (.361/.505/ .866) It's hard to imagine Swihart or Nunez doing better than that. It's better than what we can expect from Moreland: .250 25 80 (.325/.445/.770) The split numbers might be what really counts, although Cora seems to not value that as much as others, at least with his words this winter. Moreland's OPS vs RHPs is more like .785. HRam's OPS vs RHPs in his best Boston year (2016) was just .796. Do you start HRam vs every RH'd starter if the differential is .796 to .785? One could probably look at which starters Moreland has a good history against and justifiably start Moreland in 25-40% of RH'd starter games, thereby keeping HRam from vesting. To me, HRam is going to have to rake vs RHPs to justify letting the option vest. I see that as a small possibility, but if I'm wrong, he will vest- assuming health is not an issue. Not passing the physical might be our hope, if he does vest.

Isn't that the same for every team? (Maybe us more than others due to our rotation question marks.)

Our window or "future" is short as it is. If HRam's contract is on the books in 2019, we'll have two major choices: A) Go over the $40M limit and accept serious penalties that will hurt our FUTURE. Let Pom go and/or not extend a young player into the FUTURE. Yes, having HRam in 2019 will affect our future in 2019 and beyond. While losing HRam and Pablo's salaries will be very helpful, we have so many stars coming off the books in such a short time period that we will need every cent to just keep most of them and pay their escalating arb costs. We'll need a large influx of youth into the 25 man roster that I just don't see happening. I'm not a pessimist; I'm just being realistic. $22M goes a long way towards keeping us under the $40M penalty next year while staying highly competitive in 2019. I do see a small chance scenario where we might want HRam to get over 497 PAs, but we should allow Moreland, Swihart, Nunez and maybe even Travis a chance to show what they have got by taking PAs away from HRam. Unless HRam is hiting like he hasn't done since joining Boston, I'm limiting his PAs for the good of the team and its future.

I was firmly against the Pom-Espi trade, but my dislike was never based on my feelings towards Pom. I really liked Pom, but I liked Espi more. Pom has done better than what I expected, but he had a fantastic half season before we got him. The trade looks great now due to Pom's great performance last year (not so much in 2016) and Espi's health issues.

Our best hope is that Smith or Thornburg pitch well enough to give us confidence one can close next year. Replacing Pom won't be easy.

He's always had a nice swing. It looks like maybe he's found some power. Too bad he's sqeezed out of 1B right now with $29M spent there this year.

Every big business is corrupt. I watch the game and could care less about the money grabbing.

Yeah, Swihart is untradeable, cause he's so good, but we can get JT for peanuts.

lol!

The window closes more quickly with HRam's $22M on the 2019 budget. There's just no sugar coating it. If he wins us a ring in 2018, it's worth it, and I'm actually someone who has faith in HRam this year, but I just can't see us getting to a point where we're thinking, "Hram is doing so well, we just can't win without him, so screw the future, let's ride the Hram wave to a 2018 ring!"

JBJ is going to have his best season of his career. Moreland will be the steady one once again... steady mediocrity with a glove.

MLBTR... Red Sox knuckleballer Steven Wright may open the season in the team’s rotation, Ian Browne of MLB.com writes. Wright, who has been working back from the season-ending left knee surgery he underwent last May, threw three innings of live batting practice Saturday and called it “a huge, huge step in the right direction.” There’s also optimism about left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez, who had knee surgery last October. Of Rodriguez, manager Alex Cora said, “It seems like Eddie, he’s in a sprint right now, which is great.” Meanwhile, lefty Drew Pomeranz – yet another injured Red Sox starter – will throw a minor league game Sunday as he attempts to bounce back from a mild flexor strain. Cora noted that “you can’t rule out” Pomeranz or either of the other banged-up starters from beginning the year in Boston’s rotation.

ST'ing OPS (20+ ABs) The best... 1.290 Beni .994 Bogey .989 Swihart .974 Devers .920 Travis .890 Vaz .832 Holt .801 Castillo The so-so... .795 de Jesus .732 HRam .700 Tavarez .683 Betts The worst... .336 Selsky .411 Lin .507 Marrero .573 JBJ .609 Moreland .634 e la Guerra ERA (6+ IP) 0.90 Walden 1.00 Sale 1.23 Hembree 1.23 Poyner 1.29 Barnes 2.77 Haley 3.00 Smith 3.86 Johnson 4.15 Elias 4.91 Porcello 5.14 Workman 6.10 Velazquez 9.00 FRod

I've mentioned Haley. (Does that count?)

They might like Danny Diaz, who might be ML ready by the time the Marlins are relevant again. (just kidding) Maybe Mata, Diaz and Swihart.

It's actually how much HRam is hitting better than Moreland/Nunez/Swihart. If HRam is hitting at a pace of .280 30 100, do you play him over a Moreland at .280 25 90? Over Nunez at .300 with an OBP of .360? If Moreland is hitting RHP's better than HRam, even though HRam's overall numbers are better, what then? It's not just about how well HRam is doing. If he's heads and shoulders above the next choice, then yes, he will play over others and reach his vest number of 497 PAs, even with us holding our noses.

Yes, "it matters" more when the blunder is $95M + $88M, but $13M still "matters." I never said one mattered less than the other.