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You do realize WAR numbers include factors like IP, games played, etc as it trends to being cumulative...

Me too. Although the latter plan will likely cost the Sox Bradley. Unless something crazy happens like JD opts out or Mookie takes a pay cut...

"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the show?"

He's a Major League-caliber role player, which is more than can be said for most people. He's a good backup for 2b and 3B and, in a pinch, SS. Overall I think Lin is the better player of the two.

Perfectly stated...

Price hasn't really been much against the Yankees anyway...

I'd rather have Betts and an AAAA player than two mid-tier players. The Sox could have gotten two lesser free agents instead of Manny for the same money. Would that have been a good move? They could have signed Mike Hampton and Ellis Burks for the same amount of money spent on Manny. Good idea or bad idea? If anything, lesser players increases the risk. Because lesser players typically decline faster and are closer to being replacement level types by definition...

It was a hypothetical scenario. Marco Hernandez at the plate is a combination of Shea Hillenbrand and Alex Cora. He possesses Hillenbrand's hatred of waiting to see a second pitch, and combines that with the sheer raw power of Cora....

I think if Marco got a chance to get 600 plate appearances in a season, my commentary on him would be far from the worst...

But at least it gives the team a chance to make some extra cash by selling "Guilty" and "Not Guilty" pennants to wave during the proceedings...

This seems to be true every time we have a GM with the initials DD...

No trial?

And if you have two birds in the bush, is that when you're supposed to kill them with one stone?

1. Were the last place finishes his fault or due to player's underperforming? The team came in last in 2014 after winning a title in 2013 with largely the same team. Is that really the fault of the GM? And how is that team's underperformance the fault of the GM, but this year's the fault of the rotation? 2. I didn't like the Sandoval signing, but Hanley was actually not a bad contract. He signed for far below what he was predicted to get, and for fewer years. That he didn't pan out is not the fault of the GM, is it? And Castillo was actually petty good when he was not hurting himself. 3. The big issue many had with the 2015 Sox staff was the lack of an "ace" type pitcher, but the rotation actually held it's own for an average finish of 13th in MLB in fWAR. The real problem with that team was the bullpen, which was 30th in fWAR in MLB. In fact, the rotation ranked higher against it's counterparts than the offense did, as it came in 15th in MLB. And the 2015 Sox did come in last, but it was a surprising 78-84 record, which is pretty good for a last place team. They sort of fell into the back end of a lot of parity, since only 2 teams in the AL won more than 88 games that year...

Didn't I already dispel this myth without needing to look beyond this season for data?

Now what if Bellhorn's recollection about the Sox stating they would not be able to retain all 3 of Bogaerts, Sale and Betts? As Bogaerts and Sale are already on board, what does that mean for Betts in 2019? Keep? Trade? And does trading him impact decisions about Bradley?

I can agree with 2018, and the results bear it out. But I questioned his 2019 approach going back to December, and it only got worse when I realized what his budget really was. Now, I am allowed to do so because I didn't know and didn't need to know what he had left to spend. But I assume he did know...

DD will always have 2018. That's a big accomplishment for him. I find it odd that some write off Dombrowski's questionable moves as "Hey, every GM does it" but then chastise Cherington for exactly the same type of thing...

Baseball Reference doesn't contract my analysis. They contradict Fangraphs' analysis. And saying one is definitively right over the other is usually only done with a sense of bias. What should be learned from it is that there are multiple ways of evaluating a pitcher, and Cueto doesn't clearly fare batter than Porcello using all of them, which means it's probably closer than you think. To me, the biggest drawback to Cueto has been the injuries. He might have been more talented, but that talent did little use to anyone when it was stashed on the DL...

Which would make it virtually identical to the contract Jeff Samardzija got that same off-season. In that respect, it looks like a good deal...

I have forgotten that. If that's true, should they have signed Sale? If they don't think they can keep Betts, they should probably trade him this off-season. That will be tough, because trading a superstar rarely brings back even remotely equal talent...

So.. Bogaerts and Sale are dummies? Mookie might wait, but if he gets a good offer he thinks is worth it, he'll sign. Now whether or not the Sox make that offer is another matter. I have no idea if he thinks he should get more than Harper or Trout or Machado. But Harper's contract is really just crazy long, and his $27.5mill AAV is actually less than Arenado's ($32.5mill). And so is Machado's ($30mill AAV). With Betts being about 2 years older when he hits FA, getting an Arenado contract would certainly be similar to those deals, possibly slightly better...

I’ve said since Arenado signed that Mookie’s next contract would look similar (8 years / $32mill AAV). Arenado was in a similar position, entering his final contract year...

The Sox do keep trying to extend him. Maybe they will, but not announce it until after the season for luxury tax reasons. (Can they still do that?) I didn’t think Bogaerts would take the extension before his final season, but here we are...

I think/hope Feltman can do something and turn it on to make his MLB debut next year. Mata is really one step away already by being in AA, but as he’s only 20, no reason to rush him. Make him force the promotion. I don’t care if Velasquez and Johnson get DFAd. At least Velasquez has options. Johnson has better show something relatively soon. Houck and Reyes could be depth at some point, possibly Hart, too. The free agent doesn’t have much for closer types. Maybe Hector Rondon fits the budget? Sergio Romo? He won’t command as much at age 38. Under normal circumstances I’d recommend a low cost flier on oft-injured Arodys Vizcaino, but if the budget is that tight, it better be a really low cost. And there is always Dellin Betances, who strikes me as Ramiro Mendoza 2.0 if the Sox sign him. Of course the rotation is the issue. And the Sox are going to struggle to do anything with Price, Sale or Eovaldi. And they can only add one MLB body right now, and not an expensive one...