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A poster on MLBTR started saying this was the case long before the story broke. Apparently this is quite common in Venezuela, especially on that road...

The problem with having a slew of 98mph pitchers in A ball is a fraction of them will get injured and some of them will never recover. Another fraction will never get any semblance of control and become walk machines, which doesn’t work at any level. So proximity is a big deal. Attrition happens...

He traded Logan Allen for Kimbrel. As of September, Jim Callis of Baseball America ranked Logan Allen as the top pitching prospect in all of MLB and the #7 overall prospect. Are you sayings Dombrowski chose to trade him but knew enough to keep Trey Ball? DD traded away good players and plenty of them. The strategy worked but people really need to stop justifying it just because Yoan Moncada isn’t an All Star or because Kopech got injured or because Carlis Asuaje got... well, he should never come up anyway since he was an organizational filler and s throw in. The trophy is fine for justifying things. All those players could have spent 15 years inBoston and never won a title. The Red Sox had Hall of Famers in left field for roughly 50 consecutive seasons and none of them got a single ring. But just because you want to pretend Dombrowski selected prospects to trade who went on to do nothing doesn’t make it true. In fact, it already isn’t....

I He was pretty as in the second half. Now let’s be fair. His April was unprecedented. How long did he go before a RHHreached base again?

Very misleading and a bit of a straw man argument. One of the four was Palpelbon, who was only “established” because he got that way inNoston. Also this whole “not anyone can close, especially in Boston” and the unsupported statement about the strings of failed closers. Who were they again? Why is closing different from other bullpen roles? The most critical situation in a game comes up in the 6th through eighth inning more often than it does in the ninth, which was the actual moral of the Closer by Committee (or, as it should have been called Closer by Chad Fox) experiment in 2003. I mean, a huge chunk of save opportunities are 3 run leads. Should the Sox really designate their best reliever as a guy who can “shut down” an opponent for 3outs before he gives up 3 runs? Closers need to be good pitchers, but not necessarily better than the rest of the bullpen. It’s funny how sports fans think of closers as athletes with a special skill that needs to be maximized to keep from losing. But no one ever feels that way about kickers (who really do have a special skill).

Dombrowski did walk into a really good situation and did what he had to to capitalize on it. He did what he has always done - strip down the farm in order to acquire All Star talent. While it doesn’t always work, it is a really effective method of building a team. Going forward, we’ll see what DD can do. He’s setting up 2019 so that anything short of another title is a failure, which is good. But we will see how good he is come 2020 when he has to deal with a contract crisis he created...

Unless the Yankees are willing to part with Andujar or Torres, they aren’t getting Kluber. Their farm system is better than Boston’s, but it isn’t elite anymore as some prospects are now in the majors, some were dealt, etc. Last I saw their farm was ranked 18 out of 30, and I think lacks a top 30 prospect since the dealing of Sheffield. Bottom line - Kluber would be a great acquisition, but her won’t be cheap. I doubt they pull the trigger...

Because they believe or rationalize that Dombrowski’s alone in the Sox front office and doesn’t own a cell phone so if he signs players to minor league deals he can only do so by ignoring larger priorities.

Exactly what type of pitchers do you think we can get on minor league deals?

San Diego might not like that package much. Any reason your hellbent on trading Hembree?

Most teams use about 10 starting pitchers every year...

Minor league contracts are compatibly free. And it’s not like DD is the only guy in the front office. The guy has an Assistant GM, right?

I’ll tell you how much depth you need right after you tell me how many injuries the Sox are going to have. Considering we have Eovaldi, ERod, Sale and Price in the rotation, I wouldn’t aim tooow with the prediction...

Johnson’s WHIP is only better than Velasquez’ by 0.02 last season, which amounts to 2 hits and walks in 100 IP, or 3 per year (assuming 150 IP). Hector’s career WHIP is actually better than Johnson’s...

There might be a need to resort to trading...

He was the guy I wanted instead of Pablo Sandoval back on BDC. Always felt Valbuena was an underrated player...

In a rare occurrence, I liked the Price contract on Day One. But the opt-out was a big part of it...

Valbuena died in a car crash along with former Pirates infielder Jose Castillo. Former Red Sox minor leaguer Carlos Rivero was also in the car but survived...

Also might not be as effective for the same reason...

Kelly? Yes. Herrera? I have my doubts...

20 to 25 games per year? That means you’re expecting 1-2 months of missed starts per season.. That’s up to 1 and 1/3 seasons worth of missed starts over the life of the contract. I assume you also have some expectations about how he actually pitches?

Me too. But for a crazy expensive roster-altering deal, I think I take the 31yo 70IP pitcher with no history of arm trouble and a fastbtrack to Cooperstown ever over a 29yo possible flash in the pan with 2 TJs bookending a mid-rotation career...

Sure you did. Hold prospects. Draft well. Make poor free agent signings...

Maybe, but for once, I actually agree with Dojii. I think Keuchel or Kimbrel made more sense for that contract...

So.... Kimbrel and Kelly are next?