Jack Flap

Oh, it's not a bad move by any means...as you said, low-cost, low-risk. I'm just skeptical he can be counted on for anything at this point. But who knows.

I do tend to agree with this thinking. With Cherington, I always felt he was great at laying the foundation (a foundation that, whether people admit it or not, Dombrowski was able to benefit from and build upon) but couldn't or wouldn't do what was necessary to put us over the top and back into legitimate title contention. Maybe he would have done that eventually, and maybe not. Given the way things went over his last couple of years here, I had no issues with him being removed when he was, and haven't spent any time since wishing he was back. Nonetheless, he brought us a championship, and 2013 can never be taken away from him, any more than 2018 can from Dombrowski. I have disagreed with some of DD's moves, but I don't know which could be characterized as a "terrible mistake" knowing that they ultimately led to a championship. Maybe the Price contract takes a turn for the worse, or maybe Moncada or Kopech or Allen or Espinoza turn into stars with their new clubs, but at the end of the day, it's hard to imagine taking any of those decisions back knowing what the end result was. Delivering a title comes with a lot of goodwill and benefit of the doubt in my book...Cherington squandered his pretty quickly after 2013, but hopefully the same won't be true for Dombrowski. As I think Notin said earlier, what happens in 2020 and beyond might be the true test of DD's mettle, but he's more than earned my trust at this point, and I look forward to seeing what he has up his sleeve going forward.

The Portland Sea Dogs might see him down the road on his rehab assignment...other than that, I'm not too worried.

What a marvelous collection of straw man arguments in a single post...now that does require some talent. Like I said...I'm not even sure what we're arguing here. If it's whether the original Kimbrel trade was wise: I never loved the cost at the time, but it ultimately helped bring about a championship, so I have no cause to complain about it. If it's whether Kimbrel should be re-signed for 2019 and beyond: given his warning signs of impending decline, and the proliferation of acceptable free agent alternatives, I'm fine with letting him go unless his asking price drops significantly. However, I have advocated spending money on further relief additions and opined that Robertson, Britton, Ottavino, and Herrera (several of whom have demonstrated the ability to get three outs with a three run lead) should be targets. As far as I can tell, nowhere but in your imagination is anyone advocating signing Triple-A scrubs to pitch the 9th inning or hit in the middle of the lineup, but I'm glad you're on guard against such efforts. Keep up the good work!

I'm not sure I follow what this closer argument is even about anymore, and I guess it depends on how you'd define a "bad closer," but just about every year you can find a guy who saved 35+ games with an ERA around 4. Some around here seem to think that only the very best of the best are capable of closing games, but it isn't that difficult to rack up saves while being far less than lights-out. I've just never really bought the idea that it takes some special or rare talent to record three outs with a three-run lead...which is one of the reasons I wouldn't mind Cora moving to a more progressive approach where you're willing to use your best reliever in the highest leverage situation (whether that be in the 9th, 8th, 7th, etc) without being a slave to the save statistic. I suspect from some of his past comments that Cora would be open to such an approach and would probably be capable of working wonders with it.

I wouldn't really put 6th starter as a big need at this point...I'm sure another minor league signing for two (this year's Kyle Kendrick or Doug Fister) wouldn't hurt, but with Wright, Velazquez, Johnson, and then Shawaryn or whoever would be up next in Pawtucket, I would guess we're about as well covered in that area as most teams could claim to be. The Red Sox seem unconcerned about the catching situation, and I'm not sure we have the resources to really make a significant upgrade there right now anyway. Pick any two of the current three catchers to keep, trade the other, sign some emergency depth to stash in Pawtucket, and I'll be fairly content.

I find it funny how territorial and sensitive people get in these GM vs GM debates. Now you can't offer any criticism of Dombrowski without it being taken as evidence of a secret longing for Cherington, or, conversely, say anything positive about Cherington without it also being a swipe at Dombrowski. Silliness.

Agreed.

Between G.Hernandez, E.Ramirez, Putnam, and now Smith (and I feel like I'm forgetting someone), I like what we've been doing on the minor league free agent circuit. I know a lot of people tend to scoff at signings like that, but I could easily see us getting decent value out of one or two of those guys.

I go away for a little while and suddenly a700hitter believes in the "cliff." LOL

I get Kimmi's reticence on long-term megacontracts, and typically I agree, but right now Mookie is looking like that once-in-a-generation type of player worth biting the bullet and backing up the $$$ truck for. Gun to my head, I'd probably offer him what Jacko proposed and hope for the best.

I think a lot of it a combination of the market waiting on Kimbrel signing and the Red Sox waiting to see if these guys' demands drop. There was a report, for example, that Robertson was looking for three years but the Red Sox were only willing to go up to two - perfectly reasonable and, by itself, not evidence of any new directive to slash payroll. We'll see what happens in the next few weeks, but I feel zero worry or anxiety about our bullpen situation right now.

I agree and thank you for summarizing my point in a lot fewer words.

Just IMO, if there ever was a year to "just go for it," 2019 would seem to be it. We're going to be way over the limit again anyway, whereas starting in 2020 we have a lot of money set to come off the books and no guarantees as to who will still be around and who won't. When you have a historically dominant team coming back almost completely intact for a chance at back-to-back titles (a longshot, to be sure, but I think we're in as good a position as you can ask for to try), and just need a late-innings arm or two to complete the roster, "going for it" doesn't even require much effort above what you've already done, and pinching pennies at the margins wouldn't make much sense and would send a pretty lousy message. Now that doesn't mean you have to go out and do something stupid like give Kimbrel $100 million or trade all your prospects for a rental closer, but I just don't buy that our budget is tapped out and that the Robertson/Britton/Ottavino class is out of our price range. Of course, even if we pass on those guys and make some slightly more low-key additions, I think we'll still be in fine shape, but I don't see why the luxury tax should be considered an obstacle at this point. Again, we're going over next year anyway - might as well go over with gusto. You can always try to reset in 2020 if you need to. Whether Henry shares those thoughts or not, I cannot say.

I don't get the angst over the bullpen. It's pretty clear what's going on here, and it's that Dombrowski is looking to make further additions but is waiting for the market to come to him. I'd be pretty shocked if we went into opening day without adding at least one significant relief arm.

Taking a flyer on a few of these types each year is just good business. If for every twenty Francisco Cordero or Carlos Marmol signings that amount to nothing you stumble upon one Rich Hill or Ryan Brasier, it's well worth it.

As for Cervelli, I don't see how he really moves the needle for us much...pick any two of the three catchers currently on the roster to keep, trade the other (I'd probably prefer Leon, as his ceiling is lower than the other two), sign a Dan Butler replacement to be your emergency depth in Triple-A, and I think you're fine. No sense expending scarce resources trading for a catcher unless it's a real difference-maker.

If this was about Swihart, I'd say his 274/.319/.392 (.303/.353/.452 in the second half) in 2015 qualifies as "showing something" considering he was rushed due to injuries and really should have still been in Triple-A at that point...the average catcher hit .238/.302/.376 that season. And that was really the last time he got any sort of consistent playing time at any level.

I'm fine with letting Kimbrel walk...I was rather on the fence about that for most of the year, but watching him in the postseason kind of sealed the deal for me (whether that's fair or not). If we could be assured of getting the 2017 (or early career with Atlanta) version of Kimbrel all the time, then sure, I'd empty my pockets for that guy, but two of his three seasons in Boston were more good than great, and he was far too inconsistent when we needed him most. His agent apparently wants GOAT closer money, which he certainly has a case for, but I hope we're not the team that gives it to him. The more I think about it, the more I'd be fine with giving Barnes first crack at the job in tandem with Brasier, signing Kelly if you can and maybe someone like Miller to supplement them from the left side, and seeing how Feltman's development goes. Some may prefer a Robertson or Britton or Soria or any of the other relief options floating around on the market, which I'd have no real argument with, either.

No.

"The Wright Conundrum" sounds like an installment in the Bourne franchise.

Just thought I'd point out that, as of today, we are witnessing a top 25 season of all time in bWAR by a position player... https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/WAR_bat_season.shtml I know some here look at WAR and some think it's complete bunk, but hopefully we can all agree that this is pretty f***ing incredible any way you slice it.

I think this argument was a lot more plausible a few weeks ago, before JDM had his quietest month of the season ("only" .286/.385/.413 with 2 HR in September) and saw his Triple Crown candidacy dissipate as a result. I agree he probably still ends up top 5, but I have a much harder time seeing him threatening Mookie's chances.

Youk, I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. Thank you for sharing your brother's story with us -- that must have been incredibly difficult, but I hope it helps you find some bit of peace in some way. I wish you and your family all the best and will be keeping you in my thoughts.

So...what, are we supposed to be outraged by this or something? I feel like we're quickly reaching the bottom of the barrel in the quest to unearth "offensive" tweets from years ago.