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I do like the idea of grabbing an oft-injured mega talent like Walker, Salazar, or Vizcaino. But yes, the Sox need an insurance policy if they do this. There are no true innings eaters left in free agency, with the best examples being pitchers who have done it recently like the three guys I named. Or they could swing another deal assuming they have anything they can trade...

Does that make him a liar or just a spokesman for a liar? I mean, if you had a parrot that repeatded your untruths, you wouldn't consider it dishonest? (OK, maybe too philosophical.) And maybe, just maybe, "keeping Betts in Boston long term" meant 2021-2030. I do think that, while unlikely, that option is at least back on the table...

That is a knock I agree with. Possible Perez, whose cut fastball has been graded as high as Mariano Rivera's, is used in a reduced role behind an opener?

Walker? I would too for the right money. But I wonder how low the money will be with so many teams looking at him as a wild card. These oft-injured starting pitchers like Garrett Richards, Michael Pineda and Drew Smyly seem to be doing better in free agency than I would have anticipated, even if they are not expected to pitch at all in the upcoming season. I think Collin McHugh and Vizcaino probably represent some better value, although they are both far from certainties themselves. And Danny Salazar was an elite underrated arm before he got injured. (And by elite here, by some measures he was one of the best starting pitchers in MLB.) But should the Sox gamble on of these high reward/super high risk arms? Or is someone who can potentially pitch 150 IP like a Jason Vargas, Marco Estrada, or Jeremy Hellickson more valuable to this team? Or should Bloom go all in and try to get one of each?

Martin Perez (1.9 fWAR) seems like he is an adequate replacement for Porcello (1.8 fWAR) and signed for less money....

Yes, but exceeding the tax for the first year i a lot less painful than doing it 4 years in a row. You might not like the luxury tax, and it might not even exist in 2021, but it does exist in 2020 and Henry apparently does not like it that much. I get why he wanted to reset, and I cannot complain about his sudden frugality as as an owner. The man has been dropping some serious coin on my entertainment...

He is also garnering a lot of interest, which makes getting him ore difficult. Frankly, if I want to gamble an oft-injured pitcher who is just as likely to sit out the entire season as he is to do anything of use, I would go for Arodys Vizcaino. He's more likely to handle the reduced role, and he is probably a lower risk in terms of what it will take to get him here. And there has been zero buzz about him. Although that might mean everyone except me knows there is already something wrong with him...

As fans, we have the luxury of "worrying about 2021 in 2021 and not one second before." As GM, Bloom does not. While he wants to make the 2020 team competitive, that simply cannot be the only goal he has. Barring unforeseen disasters, MLB will exist in 2021 and the Red Sox will be part of it, and simply hoping for a repeat of 2018 after the utter disaster of 2019 was always a bad idea. And a big part of that was the ramifications on 2021 and beyond. No one wanted to see Mookie go, but it really was the smart move. While chances are certainly greater he never suits up for the Red Sox again, the fact remains that the chances he does actually exist now. They didn't last week. Bloom did what needed to be done. He reset the payroll and got some younger, cheaper potential contributors the team sorely lacked. Now he has to finish this job and make this team competitive for 2020. That was always on the radar, but I think the long term picture was always just as if not more important...

The point you made had nothing to do with Sox marketing. You said Mookie would, and I quote, "go where he will be paid the most for the longest term and I am inclined to think that will not end up being us." If the Sox kept him, does any of that change? I would argue that, if anything, the Sox have better positioned themselves to pay him the most for the longest term. Clearly, no guarantee that they will do that. But their ability to do so today actually exists, whereas it did not two days ago...

I'm surprised that has not happened yet. I know a lot of his pickups (Springs, Mazza, Hall, Osich) would certainly qualify as "low risk," but I think they also qualify as "low reward, if any."...

Guessing the opening say roster is still premature, as Bloom has just started making moves. But to date, it looks like C: Vazquez, Plawecki INF: Moreland, Chavis, Peraza, Lin, Bogaerts, Devers, Arauz OF: Benintendi, Bradley, Verdugo SP: Sale, Rodriguez, Eovaldi, Perez, Barnes (?) BP: Graterol, Hernandez, Workman, Walden, Hembree, Brice, Taylor, Brasier, Weber Pitching upgrades and depth are always needed. And I think an actual fourth outfielder would be a good idea. Also, if the Sox like Arauz, make a deal with Houston to keep him and let him play in Pawtucket....

I would say adding a potential elite reliever does change the bullpen equation. If the Sox keep Sale, ERod, Eovaldi and Perez in the rotation as traditional starters and then they could use Barnes as an opener taking o the first 3-6 hitters of an opposing lineup. To me, Barnes is the obvious choice because he is effective on long ret and completely worthless on 0 days rest. That could leave the Sox with Graterol and Hernandez hadning 8-9th innings and Workman, Taylor, Walden, Brice, Hembree nd another (Weber? Brasier?Osich?) rounding out the bullpen. And the Sox now have some flexibility to add another reliever, where the options are better than the remaining starters on the free agent market. Collin McHugh and Arodys Vizcaino, for example, probably represent better upgrades than, say, Jeremy Hellickson or Jason Vargas or Taijuan Walker. Although Vizcaino in particular does represent a significant amount of risk. They could make additional trades, but I don't know how many more tradable players they have that the Sox can deal away than anyone else really wants. The market for Jackie Bradley isn't all that much and has probably reached the point where Jackie is going to either start in CF or be cut in Spring Training. And given that the Sox have not gotten any additional outfield help beyond Verdugo, I'd say Bradley looks like he will be in Boston next season....

But if you feel Price was a gamble, does he make this a competitive staff? We all know this is a pitchers' game, and we all grew up thinking it was a starting pitchers' game. But last eyar, the Rays made the playoffs with only 4 starting pitchers topping 100 IP and only 1 (Charlie Morton) topping 142 IP. They had one starting pitcher (Ryne Stanek) make 27 starts and still only pitch 55 IP. It's possible we are looking at Bloom Ball here. Sale, Rodriguez, Eovaldi and Perez operating as tradtional starters and then an opener (Hernandez? Graterol? Workman? Barnes?) handling the top 3 to 6 hitters first time through the lineup. We might even see two openers as Perez seems to have had some durability questions last season and might operate as the 3-6 inning guy behind an opener...

There were some fine points like that, but the bottom line is he didn't play anywhere else either. Kershaw technically received less than $200mill on his original contract before opting out and re-signing with the Dodgers. But I left him in and treated the whole situation like he was on one really big contract...

I thought about that, but that does complicate this too much for me. Obviously, Fielder and ARod are not getting traded again. And Greinke's deal is up after next season. That leaves Stanton (signed through 2027), Cano (signed through 2023) and Price (signed through 2022) as the most likely candidates. It is worth noting with Price that if the Dodgers trade him again, they can do so and still keep all of the money from the Red Sox. So having Boston pay down his salary might not help if they want to move him. (Although most likely they would pass it on if they wanted him out.)

If Price didn't perform, trading him at the deadline gets a lot more difficult unless you include even more money. The demand for $32mill/year pitchers who are not performing might not be do great...

Number one easily. That Groome and his 66IP spread out over 4 years is number 3 on that list speaks volumes about everyone below him...

So how does that differ if we kept him?

"It's a goal, not a mandate". - Sam Kennedy

To date, 19 players in MLB have been signed to contracts valued at $200million or more. Of these 19, 7 of them started in 2019 or will start in 2020 (Trout, Harper, Machado, Cole, Rendon, Arenado, Strasburg). So much for market correction, huh? To date, only one player (Alex Rodriguez on his second deal) has completed a $200+ mill contract with his signing team. Of the other 11, 6 of them have been traded mid-contract: ARod - signed with Texas, traded to Yankees Fielder - signed with Detroit, traded to Texas Stanton - signed with Florida/Miami, traded to NY Yankees Greinke - signed with Arizona, traded to Houston Cano - signed with Seattle, traded to NY Mets Price - signed with Boston, traded to LA Dodgers. So that means 12 players are still playing out a $200mill contract with their signing team (the 7 above, plus Miguel Cabrera, Joey Votto, Albert Pujols, Max Scherzer, and Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw did opt out of his original 7 year $215mill deal, but signed a 3 year $93mill deal with the same team.) If history is any indication, at least 6 and possibly 7 of these 12 players will be dealt before their deals expire. And one of them won't be Pujols, who has an NTC and a contract clause that he makes $100 million if he never wears another uniform within 10 years after his contract expires, which basically means the Angels are paying him to wear an Angels cap in his Cooperstown induction. (Although I thought Cooperstown chose the cap? Either way, Pujols is not likely to risk $100 mil by being traded.) Miguel Cabrera is also pretty unlikely to be traded, as he is a complete shell of his former self. But you never know if he might be included merely as a salary dump. So of the remaining 11 (Trout, Harper, Machado, Cole, Rendon, Arenado, Strasburg, Cabrera, Votto, Kershaw, Scherzer), which 6-7 are the most likely to be traded? Arenado certainly feels like the most obvious, as Colorado has reportedly already explored potential trades. Besides Pujols and Cabrera, Scherzer and Kershaw are also among the least likely, if only because their contracts expire after 2021 and therefore have the least amount of time to be traded. I think Machado is a lock to be traded at some point as well, if only because he will be more movable than any other big contract in small market San Diego. To date, no $200mill contract has been traded for another $200mill contract,which would be cool. But if 6 get traded, that does mean Trout is a likely trade candidate at some point. ..

I don’t think resigning him is a pipe dream. But it is far from a given. But when you look at the Sox payroll next season, if JD opts out as expected, they will have about $101mill committed in contracts plus a bunch of arbitration cases. Since we know they can go as high as $240mill, what large market team is better positioned to sign him?

I don’t think it’s a horrible trade, but I can see unloading Eovaldi instead. I guess Bloom figures 34yo Price won’t be as effective as 30yo Eovaldi over the next 3 years...

Graterol doesn’t seem likely to head to the rotation. Unless it’s as an opener. He’s never pitched more than 60.2 IP in a season at any level...

Of course, the Red Sox were the one team that had no shot at that. Considering the rival bidding team that was being played against the Dodgers was trying to foist Wil Myers’ contract on the Sox, I’d say Bloom did a good job upgrading this deal...

Averaged 98.9mph last year for the Twins. But he did not start any games. He has also never thrown more than 60 IP in a season at any level. Thinking the Sox might need another SP...