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They also rave about Kevin Pillar, Kevin Kiermeier, Byron Buxton, Billy Hamilton, Lorenzo Cain, and most of all, Ramon Laureano. In fact, I don't think any CF gets or deserves more raves than Laureano, who is a game changer out there. I've even heard broadcasters rave about Adam Engel on defense, though I'm not sure why. He looks kind of meh to me. I mean, he's OK out there. But not rave-worthy...

Would you trade Price straight up for Jason Heyward? Heyward has a lower AAV ($23mill) than Price ($31mill) and could take over CF or allow for Betts to move to CF, allowing the Sox to non-tender Bradley. Price would be reunited with Madden in Chicago. That's a savings of $18-20mill towards the luxury tax, minus what it takes to replace Price. baseballtradevalues.com gives both players roughly the same surplus trade value. Heyward has a $(-50.2) million with Price having a $(-44.8)million...

Are they playing the Yankees?

He's still on my team. That's not good news for him. It is for me...

I think all 4 get non-tendered. Hembree might be offered arbitration. Might. And like last year, Leon might be re-signed anyway...

My steps for reset? 1. Non-tender JBJ. Possibly bring him back if he takes a lower salary. Otherwise move on. 2. Deal Barnes for pitching or an outfielder. 3. Deal Dalbec for whatever Barnes doesn't get. Some trades that work out and actually make sense on baseballtradevalues.com include deals like Barnes to the Cubs for Ian Happ (where he is blocked an an OF, but CHC could move him back to 2B), or to Colorado for Raimel Tapia (who is blocked on all fronts). Dalbec to Miami for Jose Urena also works out and actually makes sense for both teams. I'm sure other deals for Barnes could be found that are even better. Everyone needs cheaper bullpen help...

I'd rather keep Betts for that reason. Having pitchers like Johnson is how you finish last, not how you prevent it...

The Notin Plan is very simple 1. Reset 2. Extend Mookie after 2020 one way or another. No idea what the Dombrowski/Romero/Whoever Plan is...

Starting Brian Johnson has turned into handing the other team an early 3-0 lead...

You can't expect them to put up gaudy numbers every day. Even the 1927 Yankees lost 2-1 games. The problem with this Sox staff is they can't win those 2-1 games every now and then...

Brasier had a horrific tendency to give up key home runs to guys at the bottom of the order...

The Mariners haven't seen the post-season in 18 years. Who does fit into their window of contention? Edgar Martinez' grandsons?

You could have wished they bring back Tom House. Or sign Brian Shouse...

I have him on my fantasy team. That's generally not good news for a player. I made a post about releasing a struggling Benintendi at one point, and that day he went on a crazy hot streak. I'm not releasing Torres. I don't want him to go to the IL. But this is my curse. Worse yet - Torres is in my keeper league. The one I have Severino and Hicks in...

He spent about $87mill on the 5 pitchers in the rotation and about $9mill on the bullpen, and that bullpen money includes some deadweight like Thornburg and Wright. While he didn't verbalize "This team is built on the rotation!" he did spend money on the rotation and extended Sale and did absolutely nothing about the bullpen. I hate how he ignored the bullpen, but the bullpen has not really been the same level of problem the rotation is. And "Blown Saves" are sort of a misleading stat. First off, they're not all loses. And while they do represent a lead that went unheld, that doesn't even mean a relief pitcher had a bad outing. Workman had at least one blown save this year when he didn't even give up a hit (against Texas). I bet other Sox relievers did as well. Sometimes blown saves are the fault of the SP or another RP because an inherited runner scored. Heck an error by an infielder and an unearned run can cause a blown save (which is what happened to Workman in Texas). Think about it. If a reliever comes in with the bases loaded and none out and is trying to protect a one run lead, he can induce a 4-6-3 double play, and be charged with..... a blown save. Sure that instance doesn't happen often, but that's a really weird outcome. The relief pitcher came up with the best possible outcome for that hitter, and statistically he gets nailed with a Blown Save. It's another stat with uses that can be misleading. A lot of blown saves are not from pitching poorly, just from really tough situations. Except the blown saves from Ryan Brasier. Those were all from pitching poorly...

So JD Martinez has reached the point where a .960 OPS is disappointing?

Must be that offense that was only 6th in MLB in runs scored...

Well you wanted a closer, and even suggested only a few people can do it. The Sox have a lot of blown saves, but the overwhelming majority have come in the 6th through 8th innings. They've only blown six 9th inning leads all year, or one more than Kimbrel blew last season. (And the Sox are 2-4 in those games.) Considering that's all spread out among a ton of pitchers, "closer" isn't the Sox problem nearly as much as just having too many mediocre relievers is. I never got why they were so enamored with Ryan Brasier and his 32IP in the past 5 years. But this is supposed to be a team built on the rotation, and the rotation that got us to the WS last season has failed miserably this year...

Right. If only Dombrowski had brought in a closer we'd be in first place. Is that what you're saying?

Oh I would have fired him in March. But the Sox issues were the rotation. Their bullpen was actually better than I expected...

Per B-R.com, if Cashner pitches 340 innings between 2018 and 2019, he makes $10mill next season. Currently he has 283.2 IP, leaving 56.1 IP until the clause goes into effect...

So your entire argument that the only difference between the two teams rests on a career closer being better in one category than a pitcher whose only had the role for 3 weeks? The Sox built their team to have the best rotation in the American League. It's where they spent all their money. The rotation failed. Those 5 pitchers make more money that the entire salaries of one of the teams the Sox are currently chasing for a WC spot. They SHOULD be among the best rotations in the game. The fact that they are performing worse than the Yankees rotation - which is their weak spot - should at least say SOMETHING to you...

It was not a point in his favor...

There's actually a decent chance Seattle decides their "gap" to their prospects can be filled by Santana, Smith and Haniger. Broxton's .514 OPS in Seattle isn't screaming "KEEP ME"...

I don't exepct him to be JBJ out there. But it's not like every flyball to CF will automatically become a hit, either. With Betts in RF covering a significant amount of territory, Bradley has been somehwta held back defensively anyway, as he simply doesn't have as many opportunities as a lot of other CFs. But then a lot of that assumes the Sox go for the full reset (per some rumor somewhere), and they need to replace him. I could see them getting another CF or a corner OF and shifting either player over...