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First of all, Price was worth 2.4 fWAR in 2018. Not much of an improvement. And he is two years older now, so are you expecting a return to 2018 or just hoping for one? Second, are you. saying a team with Bogaerts, Devers, Martinez, Sale, Benintendi, Vazquez, Chavis and Rodríguez should just fold? Should they just punt the year and play for better draft picks?

I think that depends on the rest of the off-season. Losing Bryce Harper clearly didn't end any chances of a Washington World Series title...

Straight up salary dump, yeah it is tough. Deal them seperately so you actually get something for Betts, and I will call it conditional...

Actually, I would say replacing Price isn't necessarily that difficult. His 2.3 fWAR last year wasn't that much better than Ivan Nova (2.0 fWAR) or Jason Vargas (1.8 fWAR). Betts is obviously another matter. The best option - and I cannot believe I am about to type this - is clearly the wild card known as Yasiel Puig. The dude can be an absolute monster and his super high batspeed uppercut swing from the right side could be devastating at Fenway. He also can actually field pretty well and has a superb arm. But - he also carries a significant and well-known downside in the form of being absolutely crazy. The question is - can the same fans who embraced other professional trouble-makers like Corey Dillon, Rodney Harrison and Randy Moss also embrace Puig? Or is he just too nuts and - to take a figurative cliche and interpret it literally - in a different league altogether?

The Sox did sign two last year, most notable was Bogaerts, which seemed unlikely as he is a Boras client. The Sale extension looked (and still looks) like there were too many concerns about the injury. Otherwise, why would a 29yo elite pitcher have signed a deal that short for that little? It seems to me DD took advantage of the situation to get Sale at a potential bargain price for a very short number of years, but with substantial risk...

Most of Tanner Roark?

Just trade Eovaldi and Bradley. Much simpler solution. If we need some youth, maybe trade Vazquez for a piece or two and let Plawecki start full time and bat ninth...

Sorry. You never used the word “hapless.” You just said their chances were the equal to those of me flapping my arms and flying to the moon...

But f you’re going to trade Betts, do it right. Fleece someone. Get something good! Set the team up going forward somewhat (which is admittedly difficult for one year of a $30mill player). Don’t use him to clean up the Price mess...

It is possible Betts’ adamant public standing of reaching free agency is more than just financial - as in he doesn’t want to play in Boston. If it is, he should be dealt today. If he could be extended, great. I’m not opposed to trading Betts, but I’m actually not in favor of attaching him to Price in a salary dump. That’s probably the worst way to get rid of a superstar, by using him to clean up another mess. But it’s also very naive to think the Sox don’t know what Betts means to the franchise. People out here say fans will revolt, which is hyperbole to say the least. But Bloom and company can tell you the exact dollar value they expect to lose. They know what he means. So why hasn’t he been extended? Heck we had the biggest free-spending GM in MLB running the show 4 seasons and even he couldn’t extend Betts. And this is a man who signed 36yo Miguel Cabrera to a contract that STILL owes him a minimum of $124 million!! It might be possible that Betts’ agent had advised him to wait it out. It certainly looks that way. And while there probably was a time he would have recommended extension, at one year away it does become a lot less likely. Or maybe Mookie just wants another city...

Betts has adamantly said he wants to test the market. Is there any point in making offers at all (which Bloom has allegedly been doing)? I don’t think anyone is extending Betts at this point...

And they also seem to avoid those type of long term deals. Even their latest extension to Kershaw was only 3 years. Could they afford it? Sure. But first of all, Betts is dead set against extensions. If he actually does sign one in LA after adamantly refusing to sign one in Boston, then trading him was the right move, because it means he doesn’t want to be in Boston. The only mistake is attaching him to Price as a salary dump (which is a mistake under any circumstances). Get something for him. But I’d bet against the Dodgers extending Betts. They don’t seem to do long term deals very well...

Are they really? The Dodgers do have a habit of coming up just short when it comes to free agents. Outside of giving Kershaw a 7 year $215 million deal when he was their own 26yo pitcher still under team control, how many times have they really given out a mega contract?

Betting against it doesn’t mean anything. You’d also be smart to bet against the team as it stands right now with Betts and Price. In fact, unless you got really good odds, you’d be stupid to bet on this team winning the World Series right now. Really, really, really good odds. But if you think removing Betts and Price makes this team completely hapless - which you clearly do - that’s actually all the more reason to trade Betts and Price ASAP...

Really? You think this team couldn't survive moving Price and Betts? Unless they brought in Trout? And really, what does Price bring to the table anymore that is so irreplaceable? That's actually a massive oversimplification.

I’d say it’s pretty naive to think the Sox have absolutely no chance at winning if they trade Betts and Price. Were you one of those who said the Cardinals had no chance in 2011 when Wainwright went down for the year with Tommy John? And yet they still won it all. (For the record, I was among those who said they had no chance when Wainwright went down.)

It does if it positions the Red Sox to pay him more than any other team is willing to offer him...

My bet is the trade Betts but don't trade Price. (Odds?) My strategy would be to deal Price (plus cash?) to Texas for Rougned Odor. But Bloom never returns my calls

And I might flap my arms and fly to the moon...

I thunk the problem is, the choices are either 1) trade Betts and reset or 2) don't reset. And the goal not a mandate is to reset...

What if the trade Betts and Price and then win the World Series anyway?

It is probably the right move long term. But it has a chance at making 2020 a rough season. But then it depends what happens the rest of the off-season, too...

There’s nothing wrong with the sport. The problem was the Sox were run by a President whose solution to everything was to either throw prospects at it or to sign someone to a mega deal. The Sox payroll is about a QUARTER OF A BILLION dollars. They could easily afford to keep Betts if DD had not casually thrown $280 million at Price and Eovaldi. Or whose solution to Sale’s elbow problem was a $145 mill extension. Or who decided the team needed an ace, so he spent $217 mil to get one. Then decided “Not enough” and cleared out the minor league system for another. Or whose desperation to ditch his reputation for ignoring bullpens cleaned out even more prospects and actual major leaguers. If you liked how DD built the title team, great. But these are repercussions from that mad dash of transactions that refused to acknowledge the existence of the future. This team spent a quarter of a billion last year. That they might not be able to afford Betts is not a problem with the game. The only problem with the Sox is they didn’t spend it wisely...

Or Boston or Tampa. So he could hurt the Yankees...

... which leads to an interesting question. If the Sox could only lock up one of Devers or Betts, which would be the better option? The advantage to Betts is that Devers is still under control for a while, but also it means he will be gone during his peak years. The advantage to Devers is he will not cost nearly the same as Betts to lock up (maybe half per year while delaying free agency a season or two), giving the Sox more financial flexibility...