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Don’t get too worked up about the safety aspect. 10,000,000 people live in NYC and manage to get through the day without getting killed. Joe Brady lives in the Bronx and he managed to live long enough to keep posting...

Or... the whole “Spend,spend, spend” off-seasons Sox fans are used to aren’t happening this year. Was he making many moves in Tampa in December in seasons past. Just because he hasn’t made moves anyone is excited about doesn’t mean he has no idea how to do the job...

Bumgarner would have never signed with Boston. The guy is a pure country hick. We’re talking about a guy who once gave his wife a cow for an anniversary present. Where is he going to keep a cow in Boston??

...and Sanchez is out til midseason, and not likely to jump back into a starting role even then..,

That’s fair...

All 75 win seasons are equal, but some are more equal than others...

Yes, but it won't make watching the games in 2020 any easier. Remember, while I like titles, I would prefer a competitive team every season over 1 or 2 titles followed by prolonged mediocrity...

Actually if the Sox wanted to move salary and bring back a good enough return to position themselves to be competitive now or at last in the near future, the answer might be to deal Bogaerts, whose deal is an excellent one. While no one wants to see X go anywhere except between second and third at Fenway, the Sox could clear close to $20mill and get back 2 or 3 (or more?) quality players or young prospects for Bogaerts. I hope it doesn't happen, but it certainly is a remote possibility...

I can get why some teams are waiting to see how much the Sox are willing to pay, hoping Bloom gets more and more desperate. The problem is that is one hand that is easy to overplay. After all, if the Sox were to get willing to include too much money, it defeats the purpose of moving him at all....

Moving Price without paying anything is more difficult than trying to split an atom with a butter knife. With Mookie, the decision might be whether or not to just move the salary or what do you have to do to maximize the return?

It's not that Price isn't a good pitcher other teams can't use. He just isn't a $31mill pitcher anymore, and no one wants him for that kind of money...

It's not a matter of changing recollections of the past as much as it is keeping it in the forefront. If this Sox team is maybe 75-80 win team, will you be thinking "It's ok. We still have 2018."?

Even then, you're looking t one year of one guy. And not even an elite consistent pitcher. He struggled massively the season before in Oakland, too...

They traded him away for a pretty good haul. Tough to trade your ace midseason and still make the playoffs, but the Guardians nearly pulled it off...

That might very well be the case...

Every team wants Mookie. But how many want to give up elite prospects for the privilege of paying him $30mill for one season?

I think the whole "can't handle City X" thing gets thrown around too often. And it becomes the reason for every bad season. For example, slasher and I argued that Travis Shaw clearly could not handle the "pressure of Boston," despite his being a relative no name player himself much like many of the names you mentioned. While he did better in Milwaukee, was it really because of the reduced pressure, or because that tiny bandbox of a ballpark sees a lot of home runs that were really just routine flyouts at Fenway? Yelich also did much better there, but it wasn't because he escaped the high pressure Miami team. Despite what many Sox fans think, Milwaukee is not some little podunk town where professional athletes mingle with the normies at a random corner tavern, and the press is far more concerned with local zoning ordinances than with the Brewers, Bucks, and Packers. And many of the Yankee players I mention - Hicks and Grigorius being two prime examples - were actually fairly highly touted prospects who also struggled in some markets we would consider to be "low pressure." But they excelled in NY. In both of those cases, the ballpark itself was probably a bigger factor, as it worked with their left-handed power strokes (although Hicks, being a switch hitter, didn't get to exploit it full time). I think most of the Yankee success stories were also helped by the deeper lineups. You can't pitch around everyone, so once pitchers have avoided Judge/Stanton/Sanche,. they might not have even strategized on how to handle the Urshela's and Tauchmann's s of the world, and those hitters feast on lesser or a complete lack of preparedness. There are far too many factors in why a player struggles or succeeds in one city versus another, and pressure is probably rarely a factor, or at least one that occurs less often. In fact, Cole arguably faces less pressure. Worst case scenario - he goes down as the biggest free agent bust in professional sports history who still makes nearly a third of one billion dollars. That's a pretty soft cushion to land on when you fail. If Cole has a downfall, it is going to be his over-reliance on a very hard slider taking a toll on his elbow (no pitcher in MLB throws a slider as hard as he does with the same or greater frequency). And even then, he still makes $324 million dollars. He's clearly a strong-willed competitir who wants more than just the money - but they all are. And the truly great players treat failure as a motivator, and that attitude is a big factor in even reaching the majors. The minor leagues are loaded with amazingly talented players who get in their own way and therefore barely ever crack the ranks of being one of the best 750 players in the world. If people are couting on Cole fading under the bright lights- something he didn't do in the postseason, you're very likel;y to be disappointed. If you think after 1 or 2 seasons, tthat he is going to start seeing the IL a lot more often and see his velocity drop into very hittable numbers, you have a much better chance at being right about him. I believe that players actually face the most pressure in the minors. Because if you fail there, you stay there. Think about the best players you played with in high school or college. How many made MLB? And then how many saw their careers just end in some obscure minor league city you might not have even known had a team?

Yeah but we really focus on th current or upcoming season. And for a good reason - that's what is next on the entertainment docket...

But the Guardians clearly feel differently. Sometimes you have to wonder why that is...

He's basically being paid like Jake Odirizzi right now. The question is, can he pitch as well as Odirizzi (4.3 fWAR, 131 ERA+)? It's not just about the players Texas gave up. It's also about the salary involved...

I have no idea. I just think it would be a nice signature line...

No. Leake for Casas is just flat out silly. While I agree moon's deal isn't happening. The Padres are not moving Hedges, not even for Vaz, and I have no idea if they like or don't like Trey Wingenter. But at least it does something positive for both sides. They do clearly want to deal Myers, who made $5mill last year and now sees his contract paying him $22.5mill for the next three years. That's a massive raise for a player who sucks. They are the very definition of motivated sellers here. The only reason a Price/Myers framework works is Boston would see a massive (~$14mill) drop in AAV, and San Diege would get a 2-2.5 fWAR starting pitcher for a net cost of $9.5 mill per year. But since neither player is really a marketing coup right now, I imagine there will be some ancillary pieces. Hedges and Vazquez will not be among them. Manny Margot might be, however. But I expect most of the names, if there are any, will be a lot less recognizable to many fans...

I question the value there, too. Bradley will make about $11mill for one year. $11mill isn't outrageous for a glove-first CF; it's roughly what the Rays are paying Kiermaier, but the one year thing might be a bigger issue. Mookie is a generational talent. but one yaer of a $27-30mill player on it's own is a big commitment. I think if the Sox had dealt him last July, they would have made a killing. This year, maybe the Sox can get something like what the Orioles got for Machado , which was the Dodgers #4 prospect, 2 hopeful prospects, and one player with a utility ceiling...

But even if you pay it down by 67%, what exactly does that get in return? As for the Kluber swap, clearly Texas thinks Kluber will beat his projections tht whatever source is being used here has said he will meet. It's a gamble. The guy had a major arm problem last year, and if he isn't recovered fully, he might not be the ace they are hoping for. That Cleveland let him go for so little suggests they are more inclined to believe Kluber isn't what he once was, and they know his situation better than any other team right now.

I'm sure they wealthy Yankees have far better communication techniques. They probably use the same earpieces used by the cast of Impractical Jokers...