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Love to see Buchholz back, but he some think he might be out of the Sox budget...

Imagine OKC if they had been able to keep Harden, Durant, and Westbrook together...

And yet he walked fewer per nine than Aroldis Chapman...

Yes his one career inning at Fenway should be the decisive factor here. Also, Kimbrel got hit hard that day, too...

Well,it couldn’t have gotten ranked any lower without league expansion...

By message board standards, it’s actually a fairly reasonable trade for both teams...

The trade off is he’d be about 125 years old....

What does Swihart have to do with this?

Cut Jeter some slack. He’s trying to build the Marlins and the Yankees at once...

So... not going to mention the -0.1 fWAR Steamer projection for Guerrero? Also, many others seem to think Drew Streckenrider will get the majority of the 15 or so saves for the Miami Marlins this year....

He’s certainly wrong about Babe in how he describes him, which, while consistent with the footage and pictures from his later career, is apparently inaccurate with how he looked i his heyday...

Or maybe Blake Swihart for 28yo Tayron Guerrero? The Marlins might not even mind the athletic Swihart (who can fill their lefty bench multi-position void created by non-tendering Derek Dietrich) even if they never trade JT Realmuto, which is looking likely given that this is a saga closing in on completing it’s second full off-season. Guerrero is a minor league journeyman who did manage to get his fastball velocity up into the “Dombrowski Takes Notice” range. But he’s got some control concerns...

Will Smith, like Rodney, also has a higher salary and only one season of control left. Given how awful SF was last year will continue to be, the only question about his availability is “when?” And while certainly someone will point oout other teams could offer more than Boston, why haven’t they? It’s almost February. Oakland might not want to dismantle their bullpen (of which Rodney was a member for 2 months and 20 IP), but they also might not want to start the season with Josh Phegley as their starting catcher. I’m not the biggest fan of it, but a Rodney-Vazquez swap does make some sense for both teams. And the AAVs are roughly equal...

Vazquez, Chavis, Dalbec, Hernandez, Feltman, Swihart, Sharwyn, Mata, Houck All you need is one GM who likes a prospect or two in the Sox system....

Mychal Givens, Will Smith, Joe Jimenez, Fernando Rodney

Vazquez was closer to .700 than Leon as recently as last year, but he still wasn’t close to it. In the last 3 years, each has topped a .700 OPS once and failed to top even a .600 the other 2 seasons. If Vazquez’ control and contract makes him more easily dealt for something good, he won’t be missed. It’s also really hard to say his departure leaves some sort of gaping hole when we won 118 games last year with him posting a .535 OPS. One could easily argue we had that hole already. I’m not even sure what the Sox could get for Vazquez; if it’s not worth it, DFAing Swihart might be the right way to go. But if Vazquez can get the Sox even a half decent bullpen arm, it needs to be considered...

That’s basically the goal - to fill it for $5mill or less. A few names have come off the board for that price, but none of them were blatantly obvious missed opportunities. The closest might have been Justin Wilson, who is good and has someclosing experience, but maybe his $5mill AAV was too high. Hunter Strickland was another possible miss, but maybe DD isn’t a big Hunter Strickland fan. If so, he’s not alone. Strickland didn’t get non-tendered because his last team thought he was worth every penny...

You’re not reading this thread very well today. Moonslav was talking about how the Sox are already all in at $240mill and then said “you don’t see anyone saying the Tankees need to go all in and sign Machado, move Andujar to 1b and fix their hole.” Not sure how you got 1) how anyone suggested the Yankees need to replace Andujar 2) how anyone actually suggested the Yankees need Machado or 3) that my only suggestion of Moustakas would cost $200mill. I mean, I’m sure he’d accept a deal for that much, but he might go for less. After all, doesn’t everyone want to take less money to play for the Yankees?

Great. Can he maintain that .380 BABIP for a full season, too?

He’s saying Bird/Voit/Bird’s DL Replacement is your hole. Andujar was part of his solution by replacing them at 1b. Even without Machado, the Yankees could upgrade that position with Moustakas...

And if he doesn’t clear waivers, he can be one of those guys who goes from claim to claim to claim like at least one player does every year. So far, this year’s Claim Star is Parker Bridwell...

I think many have realized that long term mega contracts always go bad at some point and are, at best, a risky investment...

That's a bit of a crazy assumption to say the least, At best, it's a weak strawman argument. In the last 3 years, the OPS+ for Vazquez and Leon and Swihart 2016 Vazquez 55 Leon 122 Swihart 92 (74 PA) 2017 Vazquez 92 Leon 68 Swihart 75 (7 PA) 2018 Vazquez 46 Leon 37 Swihartv Total Vazquez 68 Leon 75 Swihart 65 (288 PA) I'm really not sure where all of this faith in Vazquez as the vastly superior hitter to Leon comes from. Leon has had the worst season of any of the catchers, but also the best (albeit fueled by an insanely high BABIP). Of course, Vazquez best year was carried by a .290 BABIP, which is about 40 points better than his career average as well. None of them are good hitters. Swihart has had the fewest opportunities and his best successes are getting further and further in the rear view mirror. But why does that deny him a chance when neither of the others has shown the ability to take command of both sides of the position in far, far greater chances? The Sox have 3 backup catchers on the roster and you're trying to make an argument that one of them is untouchable. The Sox could deal all 3 and let Juan Centeneo play 140 games and no one would notice the difference...

Well, he does have to trade someone. Chances are we use a 7 man bullpen, as it is the standard, and frankly, one area the Sox have allowed themselves to get weaker this offseason, With our 5 man rotation, that leaves 12 pitchers. With 9 starters, that leaves the Sox with 4 bench spots. Pearce, Holt, Nunez and one backup catcher. One. If Pedroia is on the DL, then we can fit both. But what if he isn't? If he can play, he will and he should. And if he can, someone has to go. Also, I don't think any of these 5 candidates for the bench have any options left. Sources disagree as to whether or not Holt has one, but it really doesn't matter. The Sox are NOT going to send Holt to Pawtucket to keep Swihart on the roster. Swihart is probably the likeliest candidate to be dealt, but he isn't going to bring much back. The Sox have tried that already and it's not like he has done much to make any GM re-think his opinion of Blake. Tht leaves the last option of simply releasing Swihart, which is certainly a possibility. But if Pedroia is on the DL, look at the Sox bench, They would have a 1B in Pearce or Moreland (whichever one was not starting ), a 2B/3B player in either Holt or Nunez (whichever one was not starting ), a backup catcher in Leon and ... another backup catcher in Swihart who has had limited experience with even more limited success at other positions. Do we want a bench with maybe a reserve outfielder? Or a defensively capable SS? JD Martinez right now is the fourth outfielder, but that doesn't help in-game replacements. If Cora ever pinch hits for, say, Bradley, do we his glove replaced in the field by Holt/Nunez/Swihart? Or if Bogaerts has to leave a game, who covers SS? I know this bench worked out fine last year, but that doesn't mean it can't be improved upon and made more capable. Defense is the primary expectation from bench players, since bench players who can hit are typically starters. Remember when Cora was forced to go deep into his bench in Game 3 of the World Series and we had a horrific offensively-challenged lineup featuring both Vazquez and Swihart? Like many Sox fans, I watched that whole game. But there was very rarely an inning where the Sox were coming up when I got excited about their chances to score. And that was a game in an NL park, where we did have one of our regulars on the bench and we still wound up with both Leon and Vazquez in the game for a long, long time...

January 26 Harper - still unsigned. No offer from Philly after saying they would make one 9 days ago. No real other rumors. Machado - still unsigned. Tough to keep track who is still involved or if any team still cares Kimbrel - still unsigned. Have there even been any rumors about interested teams? Keuchel - still unsigned. Like several others, not much in the way of rumors. Realmuto - still untraded. This is getting ridiculous, as it is two years running Moustakas - still unsigned. How much does he hate free agency?