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Not true on several fronts 1. JD Martinez makes $23.8mill in 2019 and 2020. It’s not until 2021 and 2022 that he sees a salary drop all the way down to $19.4mill 2. In the last 3 years, Martinez was worth 11.9 fWAR. In his last 3 full seasons, AJ Pollock was worth 11.5 fWAR. (Pollock missed almost all of 2016.) 3. Only 6 players this off-season received contracts of 4 or more years. Of those 6, only 31 year old Pollock was over 30. Martinez will be 32 when this season ends. 4. While I would expect Martinez to top Pollock’s deal of 4 years $55mill, by how much? He has 4 years / $86.4 mill remaining if he never opts out, which he can do after 2019, 2020, or 2021. Will he even get a 4 year $86.4mill contract on the market now? No one was interested in him when he was 2 years younger 5. As his salary in 2020 is the same as 2018 and 2019, not sure why you would call it a “glorified two year contract.” Even if he waits until after 2020, he will still be collecting $23.4mill that year, likely more than he gets as a free agent. It might make sense for him to at least wait until after 2020, at a minimum...

I’d trade Mata for Givens...

It’s obviously way early, but the JD Martinez opt out isn’t necessarily a sure thing. If next year is anything like this year, he’ll probably wind up costing himself a lot if he opts out. The closest comp in terms of age and overall ability might be AJ Pollock, and his deal was nowhere near what JD still has remaining on his contract. Now AJ does have that whole “can’t stay on the field” thing, but how much is that worth?

Hey, better than being the captain and going down with the ship...

So who signs last? Craig Kimbrel Dallas Keuchel Every NFL free agent

Unclear. Zack Cozart had it in 2011, but he was only 11 games into his career, so we have no real baseline. Corey Seager had the procedure last year. So we shall see. Gleyber Torres has the procedure in the minors in 2017. He hasn’t played much shortstop since. I can’t find any other shortstops. So the waters might be uncharted...

So why does Seattle need them? The Mariners probably should sign Headley. Your deal makes zero sense for Boston. They get nothing except a minor league legacy shortstop who isn’t even a consensus top 40 in the Mariners’ organization. I don’t think the Sox are as desperate to dump salary as you think. It’s possible Leon and Thornburg are at risk for getting cut, which would give the Sox an additional $4.25 mill. Trading Groome, disappointment or not, doesn’t justify the the mere $3mill difference...

And yet you think it might improve the Mariners. I do doubt the Sox trade Groome or want Izturis. And probably need Nunez until they have an idea about their infield. And while they probably want some financial wiggle room, it’s not so likely to be at the expense of the farm system. Especially since they can simply cut Leon and save $2.48mill, keep their better pitching prospect and their infield depth. The idea that the Sox have to include Groome to move Nunez for nothing is beyond silly. You could have at least included a worthwhile prospect coming back to Boston...

Howlett and Northcut are more likely to play third than Casas. But none of this will matter until 2022 or 2023...

You sure only one is correct?

Sure they do. In fact it’s the only reason the Yankees ever lose. But the good news is, they recover and are typically about 120-140% of what they were before...

While the Red Sox have reportedly dangled Groome in trade scenarios before, they are not likely to do so merely to dump two players in the final years of their deals in order to acquire a potential utility infielder. Like Seattle, Boston also hopes to contend beyond 2019. Your proposal is so lopsided I’m surprised it didn’t slide off the webpage...

But then a 35yo outfielder doing so 20 years ago might not be the best parallel for Betts. Former reliever Rick White also once negotiated his own contract with the St. Louis Cardinals because his son had special needs and there was a great school that could accommodate them in St. Louis. But he’s also not a great parallel for a 28yo MVP...

I’m not sure you understand what that means...

Wouldn’t unloading $8.5mill worth of Anthony Swarzak more than offset the $7.5mill from acquiring Nunez and Leon? Not sure how Seattle goes underwater in a deal where they save $1mill.

But his point that you haven’t seen 27 is true. Unless you’re a contemporary of bosoxmal...

That ALDS outing merely being summed up as a blown save was a bit unfair. He did have a walk and an HBP, the latter coming after nearly striking out Chris Singleton, an extremely tough strikeout. He then did strikeout Mark Ellis, also one of the toughest to fan in the AL. But then he was lifted so Alan Embree could give up the tying hit...

And once he started closing, he was actually dominant in that role. From July 1 until the end of the year, he had a 2.28ERA and a .508 OPS against. He posted a 0.00 ERA in September yet still wasn’t closing postseason games...

And that’s assuming he doesn’t suck...

It was the vaguest entry ever on Rotoworld. “Nearing a decision” after every team reportedly interested has publicly bowed out? I’m guessing any decision Kimbrel makes this week will be unrelated to baseball. Like maybe he’ll decide to order Mexican over Chinese. Or maybe he’ll decide to take the wife to see “Captain Marvel”. Other than that....

But the overall context of spring training is that the games truly are meaningless. And insisting the team “start winning” now to - what? Get in the groove? - makes no sense when players with uniform numbers over 60 are still out there...

If Chavis struggles at 3rd base, the more challenging 2b is a pipe dream. That’s such a Jim Hendry thing to do - just get 8 hitters and sort out the defense later. I know it would be great for Boston if everyone panned out, but an infield with Devers and Chavis on the right side might hit and hit well, but they will also give all the runs back. Middle infield is definitely a concern for the Sox if Pedroia doesn’t pan out. Beyond Lin and Chatham, there isn’t much in the system above A ball. (Defensive whiz Jeremy Rivera might have an MLB future, but not as a starter.). But I don’t think the solution involves forcing together the puzzle pieces we have...

As much as Dombrowski loves trading prospects, he did put significant effort into Groome, basically molding the entire draft around him. He might not be so eager to dump him just yet, especially for a legacy infielder whose ceiling might be Tzu-Wei Lin. Now maybe Nunez and Leon ($7.75mill) for Anthony Swarzak ($8.5mill) makes more sense for both sides. The Refd Sox would need to be very confident in the return of Pedroia and/or the ability of Lin to step in should Dustin falter before making any deal involving Nunez...

The Sox do have an abundance of young, cheap corner infielders either in or on the cusp of MLB in Devers, Chavis and Dalbec. They only need two. Devers isn’t likely going anywhere, which means either Chavis or Dalbec should be available. Chavis is the hitter with weak defensive skills. Dalbec is the better defender but is likely to turn into the second coming of Russ Branyan at the plate. Of the two, I prefer moving Dalbec. While he’s most capable of the three to handle third base, it’s not like he’s Brooks Robinson over there. I think the Sox can take the chance that Devers will improve. Dalbec also doesn’t have Chavis’ steroid stigma. And his RHH power plays into the needs of several teams...

Just because it might mean something to Workman doesn’t make it meaningful...