moonslav59

I think Price will have Porcello's (2016) year, and Porcello will have Price's (2016) year.

$30-40M is enough for 2 top RPers and a decent short term 3B option. It's enough to get Turner and Jansen or Jansen and Chapman. Neither are likely, but the point is, there's enough money for 2 big names.

Good points all around, especially on ERod. I think we can hope for more of the same from Ross, which has been pretty darn good, and good seasons from 3 or 4 out of C Smith, Kelly, Barnes, Hembree and Scott. A return to form from Kimbrel would also be a huge boost. I still think there's too much hoping and praying going on with the pen without Zeigler, Uehara and Tazawa. Assuming all starters are healthy (unlikely), we can add Buch or Pom to the pen, but even then, I think we fall short by at least 1 top quality pen arm. I can't see us standing pat with this pen. The rotation shows much more promise, and you hit on a few reasons why. Last winter we were dreaming of Buch and Kelly having full productive seasons with Price, Porcello & ERod commanding the TOR. The ERod injury hurt, but it did provide a slot for Wright to come in and save the day. Looking at GS'd this year vs projected next year, there's a ton of room for improvement: Price 35 GS'd to 33 (-2) Porcello 33 to 33 (No change) Wright 24 to 28 (+4) ERod 20 to 28 (+8) Pomeranz 13 to 25 (+12) Buchholz 21 to 15 (-6) Kelly 6 > 0 Owens 5>0 O'Sullivan 4>0 Elias 1> 0

I've been a Wright supporter for years. I was bummed out when he missed his chance in 2015. I also think ERod could be an ace waiting to blossum. Pom pitched like an ace the first half with the Padres, but I don't see him ever being a true ace. Buch can and has pitched like an ace, but usually for no more than a half season.

Their pen is awfully deep, but your point is well taken.

Good point, or just find someone nobody thought was an ace, but who becomes one.

I don't see the Sox adding another top of the rotation pitcher this off season. As Moon stated in another post, the bullpen needs more help. I'd actually rather get an ace than a RP'er or two, but I'm not sure we have the pieces to get one without destroying another aspect of our roster. We already spent valuable prospects on a closer and mid level starter, so our choices are now limited. Getting pen help and a bridge 3Bman is probably what will happen. (That doesn't mean I'd choose it.) They'll add some depth at starting pitching but that's about it. I think Buch is the depth we'll have.If we end up needing more, as we needed 16 starts beyond our "big 6", I think we'll have to hope Owens, Johnson, Elias, Kelly or eventually Kopech can fill the void. If not, we'll look for another PomPom-like trade mid summer.

Funny thing is Peavy and Lee changed teams several times in their prime, so I'm not sure those are good examples. I think the real chance might come with Sale, but he likely won't be gotten by giving up far away prospects like Devers, Basabe or Groome. They'll probably want JBJ , Swihart and Kopech (or more), and that will just create another need. However, having the ability to move Beni or Betts to CF and find a LF'er is much easier than finding an ace at such a reasonable salary. I don't want to be accused of beating the Sale horse to death (I already have), but there just aren't many aces available. While I have said our more pressing need is the pen and 3B, getting an ace is always something that should be explored, especially when one seems to be on the block.

The Guardians lost Carrasco and Salazar, two of MLB top 40 pitchers. Now, they lose Bauer, and yet they still win. What a bullpen they have!

The hint for me that this may all be a pipe dream was the rumor that the CWS wanted JBJ and other ML ready prospects (Moncada?) for Sale, the guy they have had issues with for quite some time. This was not a sign of "starting over" or some massive purge. It was just a sign of trying to keep competing but in a different way. I realize the Quintana idea is probably just a dream, but there does seem to be more unrest on the CWS than just with Sale, so I'm holding out on a sliver of a dream.

I understood the need to get an ace. I agreed that of all the pitchers on the market, Price looked like the safest bet of all. I'm not going to beat DD upf or spending long and large on Price. It was nice not to lose a pick over him. That being said, the cost was too high. I preferred Cueto....injury risk and all.

We could have outbid for Miller. I think Lester was a lost cause, although he's making much less than Price.

I'm not ready to throw DD under the bus, even though I've disagreed with his 3 biggest moves so far, Price, Kimbrel and Pomeranz.

Agreed on LL.

Depending on who we might add to the roster this winter, we are looking at lowering our average age by a large amount. FAs or Retirees: 41 Uehara 40 Ortiz 36 Ziegler 35 Hanigan 34 Hill 31 Tazawa The top five players happen to be the only Sox players over 33 Here's the rest (age as of today): 32 Pedroia, Young, Ramirez 31 Wright, Buchholz 30 Price. Abad 29 Sandoval 28 Kimbrel, Kelly, Holt, Holaday 27 Porcello, Pomeranz, Ross, Leon, Rutledge, Hembree, Elias, Workman, Holaday 26 Bradley, Smith, Barnes, Shaw, Scott, N Ramireez 25 Vazquez, Johnson, Marrero 24 Swihart, Jerez 23 Betts, Bogaerts, Rodriguez, Hernandez, Owens 22 Benintendi 21 Moncada Non 40 man roster: 25 MArtin 24 Ysla 23 Travis 22 Dubon, T Ball, Shawaryn, V Diaz, T Lakins, J Cosart 21 Dalbec, Chatham, Ockimey, Chavis, Longhi, S Anderson 20 Kopech, Basabe, 19 Devers 18 Groome, Raudes

If the rumors were true about Lackey balking at the contract, I can understand being an SOB, but I'd have still offered a respectable extension. Not a great one, but one that would pay him something during 2015. I have a bigger beef over what we got for the two than deciding to trade them once their ship had already sailed.

I'm not sure it makes much difference. We'd have to seriously outbid AZ to get him to play so far away from home, or so it is said.

I have yet to hear a good justification for blowing up the 2014 rotation. It's hard to justify a bad situation largely created by the guys who chose to dump 80% of the rotation, but here's how I see it: The Peavy and Doubront trades were not really all that significant, especially since Peavy was on his last year, and not many wanted him back, so basically we're talking Lester and Lackey. Don't take this as me defending the choices made. The Lester initial offer was one of the worst decisions made under Henry's reign- next to maybe the CC signing. It's hard to know what they were thinking. Maybe the Pedey "hometown discount" made them think Lester might take a low ball offer too. It's my contention that once that offer was refused, we should have immediately given our mea culpa and come back with their top offer. Once that ball was dropped, I think the writing was on the wall: Lester was going to test the FA market. I doubt he'd have taken what the Cubs ended up giving him had we had offered him that in March or June. He was a lost cause. I think the whole bidding scheme that next winter was a farce. Lester was never coming back to Boston. If you believe this, and I'm fine with those who don't, because I'm not sure myself, then trading him during a lost season made total sense. Trading for Cespy and the supplemental pick was strange. The Lackey situation was very strange. I'm not sure if I believe the rumors that he'd retire rather than play for nothing, but then was fine pitching for the Cards. I suggested over and over that we offer him an extension (2 years) that would pay him bonuses over the 2015 season that would essentially pay him more than the minimum, but less over the next two years. I'm not sure, if that was ever a consideration. If the rumor was true, maybe Sox management felt the guy was a bum to renig on a contract he willingly signed. After all, he did get paid handsomely the year he sat out injured and the year he sucked with us pitching while injured. I'd have loved to have him back from 2015 to 2017. I'd have loved to have had Lester too-- more than Price. Letting them both go was dumb, but certainly there was reasons to do what they did, once the situation reached the point of no return.

I think maybe Pablo's post season heroics might have given Sox management that maybe he could be a mini-Papi (pun intended). They might have even seen his weight as a non-issue, because they planned on having him take Papi's place at DH. Just speculation on my part, but I agree, the Pablo signing was probably something that upper management wanted.

I doubt the CWS want Buch. If they trade Q or Sale, they'd want players with 4+ years of team control not 1 or 2.

Fall League: Moncada 6 for 14 with a 2B, HR and 5 runs scored. Dubon 4 for 14 with an HR. Kopech: 3 IP, 0 H, 5 Ks TBall (RP): 3.1 IP, 3K, 3 BB Venezuela: W. Cuevas 1-0 2.25 in 3 starts V. Acosta 8 for 16 with two 2B and an HR

One service had this on April 4th: Cubs +500 SFG +800 TOR +1000 NYM +1200 LAD +1200 BOS +1400 KCR +1400 HOU +1600

I meant as viewed at the start of the season. I think before the playoffs started we had the 3rd best odds of winning the WS- behind the Cubs and Dodgers--I think. I fount this... Team .....Opening odds/June 20 Chicago Cubs 10-1 5-2 Texas Rangers 12-1 6-1 Boston Red Sox 18-1 12-1 Washington Nats 10-1 8-1 I'd say 4th best is barely top 5.

Well, if you're going to sign Price to a record contract and trade away Espi, Margot and others, I'd like to be a top 5 contender for 3 years. I think we were this year (barely), and I hope we can lose papi and still be top 5, but that remains to be seen.

I always viewed Ben's plan as a 5 year plan that would keep us competitive but not faves until 2016. The Lester extension fiasco was a major cluster F%^&! Once it was certain, JL was leaving, I understood the plan to have the summer purge. I had hoped it was more about the longer look, but luckily Cespedes magically turned into Porcello. Ben built the farm up like nobody since 2003-2005. I believe his plan was to fix the offense in 2015, but HanRam and Pablo both were horrible in 2015- leading to a last place finish (again). I truly believe Ben would have signed Price or Cueto last winter, had he still been here. I'm not sure about the Kimbrel deal, but I think he would have traded some prospects for some other big piece for 2016. His main objective, to me, was to keep us as strong contenders beyond just 2016. I think he tried to learn from Theo's mistakes. Grantedk, he signed Pablo to 5 years and HanRam to 4, but let's not forget Theo signed CC to 7 years and traded away Rizzo. DD's plan was a one year plan with Price and Kimbrel under team control for 3 total years. Pom has a couple years left as well. Young was a great signing to bridge to Beni and partially to help fill the gap left by Papi's retirement. It's hard to compare DD to Ben, especially since Ben was removed before the 5 year plan took effect.