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Unless Bogaerts opts out..

I think of it as a more extreme version of the contracts other teams have given to pitchers like Drew Smyly, Michael Pineda, and Garret Richard, all of whom received 2 year deals where each was already known to be missing that first season...

So think the Rays hit Ji-Man Choi second tonight to maximize his appearances against Cole? Choi has a 2.400 career OPS vs Cole in 12 PA with 6 of hit 8 hits going for extra bases, including 3 HRs. Maybe put Joey Wendle (.812 OPS vs Cole) at leadoff?

I think this team is in a position where they just have to keep Eovaldi's contract. Odor just won't be worth it unless they really believe he can hit improve greatly on his 2016 season. Right now, he is a 2B who struggles defensively, has a career OPS of .728 and hits a little over 20 HRs per season while striking out a lot. That makes him Michael Chavis...

I hope not. If only because it keeps increasing the likelihood of multiple World Series games being snowed out...

He also signed him while Cora was still busy coaching the Astros in the post-season. Most managerial hirings seem to come after the post-season is over. Or at least involved managers not actively working for another team...

I think Sale and DD both went into that deal knowing about his elbow and the strong likelihood he would miss 2020 or 2021. But for Sale, he was in a position that really hindered his ability to get a big contract, and for DD, he knew he'd never be able to get an ace for that few years on the open market, even if it meant paying him a lot of money to sit out for a season...

No idea. But that doesn't make it impossible?

If he assumes it is because the final product was unwatchable, which it was, the reaction could be a positive one for us fans...

That might be your rule only. I'd count them. So you're saying the the Rays lost in the best of 3, that you would believe the team with the best record in the AL missed the postseason?

Per Fangraphs, Betts was worth 3 wins above repalcement and Verdugo was worth 1.6 wins above replacement. If you like to translate that directly to team wins, the Sox are 1.4 wins better. So I can buy into an improvement of "2 wins. Maybe"

If the rules were meant to be enforced, someone would have written them down by now...

Unless you are forgetting that other teams might want him badly, too. After all, we don't know how badly a team like the Mets might want him. At some point, there will be a line drawn, even if a bidding war begins...

And avoiding answering questions

I think that also applies to the Dodgers, which is why they get the later start times to accommodate their west coast viewership...

Glasnow probably only throws 60 pitches tonight. And then the deadly Rays' pen takes over...

I think the only reason he would turn it down is if he got a better offer elsewhere...

Honestly,if the Sox had Betts, where do you think we would have finished? Or do you think we would not be finished yet? And while I like Pivetta and Houck, let's not forget they pitched 27 IP this year combined...

I think for CF, the Sox will do one of the following: 1) Bring back Bradley 2) Find another cheap defense-oriented CF on the free agent market, with Pillar and Michael Taylor looking like candidates 3) Take back a questionable contract as part of a deal to upgrade the pitching. The first names that comes to mind are Kevin Kiermaier and Ender Inciarte. Other (in my opinion) less likely candidates include Lorenzo Cain, AJ Pollock, Dexter Folwler, Wil Myers, and Randy Grichuk. Two of them (Fowler and Myers) do present question marks about their ability to actually still play CF, which hopefully will be a factor. And it should be one that eliminates Gregory Polanco, who would be a perfect fit due to his bad contract (with one year left at $14.6 mill, which is like $45 mill in Pittsburgh Dollars), strong desire of his team to move him, and abundance of likely available veteran starting pitching. Polanco is mildly interesting because he was among the league leaders in exit velocity this year, coming in 13th in MLB with a 92.9 mph average exit velocity (which was just a tick behind Devers and his 93mph average exit velocity). But his overall numbers sucked. Like, really bad. Like .539 OPS bad. It doesn't take long to see why - his strikeout numbers are through the roof. So apparently he either hits the tar out of the ball or simply doesn't hit it at all. If he could play great CF, that might be one thing. But he can't, and getting Polanco to play a corner position and moving either Verdugo or Benintedi to CF probably isn't worth it, unless you have much stronger feelings about Joe Musgrove, Jameson Taillon or Trevor Williams than I do. (And i do like Musgrove and Taillon. Williams not so much)...

Upton cannot still play CF. That’s his retired brother who played there. The younger Upton is also a converted SS, but corner OF only. Leody Taveras? Of the Rangers?

So you think the Sox with a rotation headlined by Nate Eovaldi, Martin Perez and Chris Mazza, were one Mookie away from World Series contention?

I have a feeling the pitching-weak Angels, frequent league leaders in TJ surgeries, would be reluctant to include any young arms, especially if they are getting back another pitching question mark. This team still has IL Veterans Andrew Heaney, Dylan Bundy, and Griffin Canning and only recently shed themselves of oft-injured Garret Richard and Nick Tropeano. Not to mention, they had the untimely passing of Tyler Skaggs, who was not exactly the most durable pitcher during his career either. I have no idea what it is the Angels do to absolutely batter their pitchers into painful submission, but I would be very surprised if they saw Nathan Eovaldi as any part of the solution. So the Sox would probably need to replace both Eovaldi and Martinez. Upton was tremendous at one point in his career, but right now he is often banged up and ineffective. I would prefer Martinez just stay and bounce back...

I suspect his favorite candidate is still actively doing his current job. That is, if you consider anything a bench coach does to be active...

I'd just assume have Eovaldi and Martinez...

And it cannot obviously incorporate any intangible values a player has. I believe it basically assigns a value based up project fWAR (in dollars) minus project salary...