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I think it will be even simpler. I don’t think JD will opt out, since he’ll do better after 2020. I do think Betts gets traded. Best landing spots IMO are the Mets and Phillies. But I expect another name or two to pop up. I think the Sox offer arb to Barnes, Benintendi, Hembree and Workman. I think the Sox make a couple simple FA signings, like Matt Adams, Hector Rondon. No really big deals here. JBJ will either be traded or (more likely) non-tendered. So maybe sign someone like Juan Lagares or a trade for a cheap CF to replace Bradley without hitting the farm. Something like Marcus Walden for Brian Goodwin.

It just mans there are questions around his return, which we all know. The people putting together the promos know it’s possible he’s gone; they have to. Even I know that. But it doesn’t mean the Sox front office gave them a directive to keep him out. The Sox don’t even know who the GM is. So knowing who goes and stays is certainly not etched in stone already. Heck, it’s entirely possible Mookie’s fate hinges on whether or not Martinez opts out...

Berrios did have a good season overall, but he really wasn’t that effective for the final two months, in which his ERA was 5.83 and his OPSA was .835. This was no real surprise...

Really? You see another team taking on either contract? It would be easier to trade JD Martinez than either Price or Sale...

The Sox aren’t going to just fire people randomly until a new GM is in place. And firing and replacing Levangie isn’t even a guaranteed step forward...

And there’s a big difference between direct comments/smears from the FO and anonymous source stories...

Also Shaun Anderson. But I didn't even get in to the RP thing. We have used several of them in the bullpen, like Barnes, Workman, Lakins, Shawaryn, Poyner. The commentary is about developing starting pitchers. The Sox have produced many pitchers in recent years..

The only real incident I can recall about the font office doing so was with Nomar, which did have a few comments from John Henry. Now at some point, there is a source for Shaungnessy's story. And he isn't a beat guy out there hunting down people for interviews. Maybe his source is one? Or was it just some impression he got?

The jersey incident was in protest for what Sale (and Adam Eaton) viewed as unfair treatment of Adam LaRoche, despite opinions in the clubhouse being divided about that same treatment. Is sticking up for a teammate the right way or the wrong way? It was no real surprise that the White Sox rebuilt their organization by dealing those two players away...

I thought it was Tomase. Either way, that whole scenario was insanely overblown. AJ Pierzynski, who was then with the White Sox, said on the radio "I've been with 3 teams and seen that in 3 different clubhouses." What MLB players saw as commonplace, the Boston media and Sox fanbase saw as an enormous problem...

Dombrowski doesn't overhype prospects. Other than as for use as currency, I am not sure he acknowledges them at all. In general, the overhyping of Sox prospects seems to pale in comparison to other teams. Even soxprospects.com has dialed back a ton in that department, and their best move was getting rid of the "MLB Comparison" in the profile...

THe Yankees did a great job identifying players like Voit, Urshela, Tauchman and Grigorius. But this wasn't commentary about position players. Your comment was about how the Sox have not developed any starters since Buchholz and Lester - at least not in the cradle to grave fashion. This is true. But my point is, despite a lot of hype, the Yankee haven't either. In that timeframe since 2007, the Yankees have developed 4 starters this way - Severino, Montogmery, Nova and Phil Hughes. That's not exactly a lot of development over the past 12 seasons, and really, coutning Montgomery might be a bit premature given he really has not pitched all that much. So while the Sox might get an "F" in starting pitcher development, the Yankees are in the "D" to "D-" range. The big difference is, the Sox NEVER seem to have pitchers cracking anyone's top 100 list. Groome and Ball made one appearance each. Henry Owens made BA list. Not much else. And the book is far from closed on Groome. The Yankees, on the other hand, must have had more SP ranked over the past 12 years than the Sox. But it has not translated into a better revolving door of SP. Really the Sox big issue is that they keep trading away the starting pitching. It's a bit of a fallacy to say they have not drafted or developed a MLB started since 2007; they just have not kept one. Montas, Beeks, Allen. All traded away. Still not a lot, but it does keep this from being an absolute "0" here...

The same "What have you done for me lately" can also be applied to Cherington, right? Granted, he was not actually fired, but it looked like his job duties were going to be much more limited. And maybe, just maybe, that Cherington constructed the 2013 championship team, did nothing, and produced an abject failure in 2014, made DD's inactivity look all the more questionable. Like "you didn't learn from 2014?" questionable. I agree that trashing people on the way out the door happens far too often. Think Garciaparra, Nomar. As for other organizations, probably. But that wouldn't be covered by the press I read. I will say the Cubs don't. No executive ever deserved to be trashed more than Jim Hendry, and his departure was very quiet on that front. And the parade of managers pre-Maddon also departed without any trashing from the front office. And one would think they could have cushioned the negative PR image from firing Rick Renteria simply because a bigger name became available with some trashing, but it didn't happen. The Cubs just took the negative press until it stopped abruptly in 2016...

A description that holds true in a lot of careers...

Not for 8 years $248million for a player who was already 31. I can’t look this up right now, but is Dombrowski the only GM to give a $200mill contract to a player over 30? He’s done it at least twice...

Granted I never read any book by Francona or anyone else in the Sox. So I don’t know the sources. But it seems to me Lucchino’s biggest crime was being thoroughly unlikable and therefore easy to blame. Maybe it was his history or winning everywhere in multiple sports. Maybe his off-putting “I know business not sports” demeanor. Maybe it was his scaly skin and forked tongue. But there was something about the guy that made putting the blame on him just feel right...

Well, did he really need one? Chris Sale was injured last year and barely pitched in the second half. Nathan Eovaldi has thrown 235 IP in the three previous seasons combined. Was seeing either of them missing significant time really a surprise? Was signing them for a combined $200mill (especially after seeing Price struggle with health issues in year 2 of a 7 year contract) really a wise move? It didn’t require hindsight to see the enormous question marks on these deals. And this isn’t the first time Dombrowski has done this. He stuck the Tigers with Miguel Cabrera, whom they still owe $124mill to. Sometimes I wonder if Dombrowski realizes players do get older...

I agree. Either trade him this winter or don't trade him at all. Take your draft pick and exclusive negotiation window and ability to go about the tax limits after a reset...

And the Unquestioned Best Ever...

I hope the Rays don’t win. I don’t want the Opener Strategy to catch on...

I think of it as his being blamed for the team’s inability to change much once things went south. He depleted (better, Bellhorn?) the farm and saddled the Sox with numerous long term expensive deals on players who are only going to get older...

Not really. He fired two so far. But Epstein and Cherington quit on their own...

Ditto the Dodgers...

All the more reason to offer him a QO. The Sox are the one team that wouldn’t have to worry about that. Your plan levels the playing field the wrong way...

Also above 30. Betts will be 28.