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Yes, but slightly different. I’m all about pitching depth, but you need that depth to have minor league options...

Both Eovaldi and Corbin have had their share of injuries, which will limit their appeal and years...

It doesn’t weaken the defense in centerfield but it does in right...

And like I said earlier, some might very well have. I think Hanley’s release was for much simpler reasons. He wasn’t playing good enough baseball to merit his 2019 option...

I simplify his financial involvement, but you have a point. It might be a dalliance for Henry. But then part of me thinks it’s tough to get to be a billionaire if you routinely have a $250mill dalliance...

But that just means you didn’t like what he did in the dugout. While you have you right to an opinion of him, that doesn’t mean anyone in the clubhouse shared it...

But there have also been something like 600 World Series games and only 40ish players who have homered in their first World Series at bat. It’s not as common as you think...

How many do the Sox need?

And a lot of fans are quick to label a player as dirty just for injuring the wrong guy. Jake Junis was Yankee Fan Public Enemy #1 this year for injuring Aaron Judge with an inside fastball, but Judge swung his wrist into the path of the pitch...

One might think mature adults could handle it. As you said, most of the initial actions are accidents...

College football players don't have a union, collective bargaining agreement and appeals process...

They do suspend players for both, but there is an awful lot of benefit of the doubt. Typically with HBP, they seem to allow a retaliatory strike before giving warnings...

But the reason that doesn't happen is the orignal offense s hurt. Getting hit with a 98mph fastball hurts. I've never been hit with anything that fast and I know this. Getting taken out by a pair of spikes hurts. That one I know. And as long as the offenses hurt, childish or not, retaliation is going to hurt, too...

That is possible. The guy does like to make trades...

The safest assumption is he won't continue to overspend just to please us. It's easy to say he will just spend as much as it takes, but we have seen historically that that simply is not true. He capped the budget in 2017. And he capped the budget in 2012. And probably set other limits we don't even know about. He already spends close to a quarter billion a year on this team, and at some point he is going to decide he is spending enough. Ideally, I think we can both agree he would prefer to win more while spending less. Who wouldn't? And we both know he can't achieve that by spending more...

I didn't see or hear anything about it, but was last night the first time two players homered in their first World Series at-bat in the same game, with both Kemp and Nunez doing it?

That seems like a lot of potential overmanaging for no real reason, depending on the situation.

Is that why he traded for Aroldis Chapman in the midst of domestic abuse allegations?

1) While I am opposed to bringing Kimbrel back for the rumored years, I do think re-signing him is on DD's radar. I like the idea of signing oft-injured Garret Richards as a closer with the hopes that the lesser workload works in his favor. But I think DD will stick to the experienced closer market and if he doesn' bring back Kimbrel, he will try to land someone like Jeurys Familia, Britton, AJ Ramos, Cody Allen, or Kelvin Herrera. The closer market actually has enough options that I doubt DD gets creative. 2) I'm sure Eovaldi is on is radar. He did trade for him, after all. So it will come down to what the demands are. 3) If the Sox do pursue a 2B despite having some depth (Quiroz, Hernandez, Holt, Nunez), maybe someone like Logan Forsythe? I have heard rumors about DJ LaMahieu as a good fit, whcih he is. But that depends as he is an excessive get if Pedroia is actually healthy. At 1B, the Sox might pursue Matt Adams or bring back Pearce. I doubt they go even heavy enough to acquire Justin Smoak, since they do appear to like Moreland. Siging Marwin Gonzalez would give them both 1B and 2B, among other positions. However, unless the Sox deal a few MLB players, there might be issues squeezing these players along with Swihart, Holt, Nunez and Leon on to a 4 man bench. I do think Swihart is trade bait. 4) I wish they tried that this year. 5) Mostly because he is the best defensive RF in the game today. It's not broken. Don't fix it. 6) The Sox will certainly try farm system relievers. They do every year. But probably not on opening day, unless the pitcher is out of options.

My one 2019 Yankees prediction The Yankees trade Sonny Gray to the Cubs for Addison Russell. The Cubs are definitely moving Russell because of his domestic abuse allegations, and the Yankees are certainly one team that has used these type of situations to buy low in the past (See Chapman, Aroldis.) with some serious long and short term success. The TJ surgery for Didi Grigorious creates an opportunity for the defensively gifted Russell at short in NY, and really, while some have said Didi will be back for the bulk of 2019, that's very inconsistent with this type of surgery. Moving Russell like this also opens the door for the Cubs to sign either Bryce Harper (which moves Heyward to CF, Happ to 2B and Baez to SS) or Manny Machado (who simply replaces Russell at SS). Acquiring Russell is this deal takes the Yankees out of the running for Machado, but opens the possibility of signing Harper or Clayton Kershaw, if they feel like spending heavy again. Gray isn't a great SP, but he has had some success, and a move to the NL should benefit him somewhat, and is a pretty good acquisition for a player with potential legal issues. This is a rare trade where both team have the chance to buy low and have it work out...

Like his decision to start lefty Rafael Devers vs LHP Kershaw but then pinch hit for him vs lesser LHP Alex Wood. That couldn't have played out any better...

There's always the possibility of signing or trading for another starter who isn't Eovaldi. As we are talking about "Trader Dave" Dombrowski, it's nearly impossible to predict what he does. He might trade Jackie Bradley for a starting pitcher (Jon Gray, for example). He might do something insane like sign Manny Machado and then trade Bogaerts for a starting pitcher (Jameson Taillon? Danny Duffy? Tough to find a match here without way too much research and lucky guesses). He might simply sign J.A. Happ or Patrick Corbin (like the Sox need more lefties). And maybe the chorus of boos for Machado might influence his decision to bring Machado to Boston...

Certainly possible. But I think as long as the series is in his favor, he's going to do what has worked all year...

I would imagine of the Sox are up 2 games to zero, he wuld just bench Bradley. But if this series is 1-1, he might get creative in LA, especially if the Sox drop game 3...

With some of the more obvious names, the list can get really long, for example Mike Smith gives you 6 Major League Baseball players 2 NFL players 2 NBA players (including one forgettable Celtics' first rounder) 1 NHL player 1 professional wrestler 2 cricket players 1 darts player 3 rugby players 1 decathlete and a jockey. But with a bland name like that, I would expect a lot of activity...