Jack Flap

Dombrowski paying July prices for a late-inning reliever scares the hell out of me. Another under-the-radar Ziegler type pickup would be nice, but I don't know if we could get that lucky again.

Donaldson would be interesting, but the Jays are only 4.5 back in the wild card race...and even then, they'd have to be willing to trade him within the division, and I doubt they'd give us the same sort of discount Beane gave them. I like Devers as our long-term solution and there are precious few scenarios in which I could justify trading him at this point.

Well said. Following prospects and the farm has become something of a pleasure in and of itself for me in recent years...obviously the odds are stacked against any of these kids becoming stars or even cracking the majors at all, but it can still be fun to root for them and dream on their potential.

Marrero was a 1st round pick for us in 2012. They would debut in the DSL next year, I would presume.

That certainly seems possible, but that's still a ton of money to leave on the table unless he knows he can get the same (or at least close) elsewhere.

Not to dredge up the eternal argument that will likely be the Pomeranz trade, but I'm just going to point out that this sounds a lot like the case for why we shouldn't have traded Espinoza: as a top 15 or 20 pitching prospect at the time of the trade, with a perceived ceiling of a top-of-the-rotation starter, he was a chip far too valuable to give up for someone with Pomeranz's history and question marks. Whether Espinoza never makes the majors, or blows out his arm and never pitches again (risks that you certainly take with any young pitcher), is kind of beside the point, because we know what he was at the time of the trade and can form an opinion on the trade based on that. Interesting that you can look at $ contracts in an abstract way where the market rate at the time they were signed is all that matters, but disregard the immense value that elite prospects have in today's game. A younger, healthier, and better player is always going to cost more, but I don't think that means the added cost isn't worth it, and paying megabucks to an old guy like Price in a few years means you have less to spend on a younger stud. Bryce Harper and Manny Machado will command a lot more than Hanley Ramirez in a couple of years, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't rather be writing checks to them than the latter.

Regarding the opt-out argument... Pablo Sandoval's contract was "market rate," but that doesn't mean it was in our best interest to give it out. If Price pitches at an All-Star level for the next year and a half, some team may give him a silly new contract, and I'd be happy to let them. As we've been reminded lately, this organization's spending power is limited, and I just have a hard time imagining the best way for us to allocate $31 million will be on an age 33-37 David Price. Of course, I'd guess that it's much more likely at this point that he declines the opt-out and we're on the hook for the full contract, making all this a moot point...but I have a hard time seeing how him exercising it would not be the best-case scenario for the team as well as (if he can actually land a better deal) for Price himself.

All your shortstops are belong to us.

The Blue Jays are about to get Pom-meled!

Good call...I missed that the Reds and Cardinals are both under the penalty... http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/2017-18-international-bonus-pools/

I think as a fan I would rather my team spend all of its international money than trade it for C and D-list prospects...but I am fine with us taking advantage.

Alex Speier‏ @alexspeier 7m7 minutes ago Red Sox traded minor league INFs Imeldo Diaz and Stanley Espinal to STL in exchange for international amateur signing bonus pool space.

Almost certainly, but my expectations are pretty low at this point and I'll take whatever I can get.

Carrying over from what was said in the Trade Deadline thread...I have no idea what the usual or appropriate conversion rate is between prospects and international money, but I'm not too concerned about the loss of Longhi. He's never showed much power for a guy who will be 1B or corner OF only, though I also realize he's still young. If it allows us to get the players we wanted (including a couple of potential studs in Flores and Diaz, from the sound of things), then I'm good with that. Between the draft and this international haul, there are some really intriguing players to be found and I like the progress we've made in restocking the lower levels of the system.

I don't know what makes you say that...it's like you don't know the Boston sports media at all... I read something to this effect as well and this would actually make a lot more sense to me.

He pointed out Price failing to cover first base during a play on Thursday - basically called it a mistake but said it happens and he has done the same in the past. That's it. He wasn't bashing or insulting Price at all, unless there was some other incident I didn't hear about. Seriously, if that was it, and Price can be set off by even the mildest criticism (particularly from someone who has been complimentary and supportive of him overall, as far as I know), he really just needs to tune out all news and media altogether. If he pitches well, stupid s*** like this doesn't really matter to me, but for his own sake I hope he figures out some healthier way to deal with it...

Well said.

Say what you will about him, but Price has provided more value in his 7 uneven starts this season (0.3 bWAR) than Sandoval has in three years so far (-2.0).

Super small sample size, but Marrero is 7 for his last 15. His batting average is almost up to .200! If he can hit even a little bit, his glove and versatility would make him a real asset...same with Lin.

He is tired of the media and their negative covfefe.

I agree no one should be off the table, but I'm just not sure any of the options out there are worth giving up a lot for. Moustakas is probably the best of the rental group and may not even be available as the Royals are hardly out of it. How much should we give up for a guy like Frazier who comes with plenty of flaws of his own? If the White Sox asked for, say, Chavis+, should we be willing to do it? Treading water with our internal candidates (as distasteful as that may be) until Devers is ready may end up being the best option.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/19780041/david-price-boston-red-sox-postgame-spat-dennis-eckersley

That trade has been one of my most hated Red Sox transactions pretty much from day one...no way in hell will I ever believe that was the best we could have gotten for Lackey. Kelly could still recoup some value as a reliever, of course, but the strikeouts are still too low and the walks too high for me to believe he's morphed into the relief stud we all hope he can be (yet).

Allen, we hardly knew ya. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/06/red-sox-to-release-allen-craig.html

Same...this is a very fun time of year, as is the height of offseason activity around the winter meetings. As for trade rumors being "fake news," I think it's all relative and depends on the details. I take a random, isolated report with a big grain of salt, but when you see a team and a player linked repeatedly over a period of time (say, as we were with Sale for about 6 months before he was ultimately acquired), it's probably safe to say there's something there.