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Have not heard that, but it wouldn't surprise me. I have speculated on this board that the southern California native might prefer his hometown Dodgers or Angels...

So.... bad deal for Boston.

When it comes to Stanton, it really also comes down to how much other willing snd interested teams are prepared to give up. The Marlins want to divest themselves of that commitment, likely because their chances of success during that deal took a hit after the Jose Fernandez tragedy. If it comes down to a bidding war with the Yankees or Dodgers, our chances are slim. A bidding war with the Cubs, Angels, Nationals or Giants? The Sox have a much better chance...

Schwarber's ceiling is Adam Dunn. But until he learns to take pitches the other way and beat the shift he constantly faces, he looks a lot more like Chris Carter. He'll hit 30-35 home runs, but his other 600 or so plate appearances will be a lot less productive and his OPS will not be much better than that of Jackie Bradley. And Scherer has also somehow managed to be so bad defensively, he can barely adequately field the position of DH. Hopefully the Sox avoid this over-hyped one trick three true outcome pony...

The chances of the Cubs dealing Kris Bryant for Andrew Benintendi are roughly the same as the chances of me flapping my arms and flying to the moon...

At least not one who can stay healthy. ..

And was announced right before the Red Sox were about to win the World Series in a transparent attempt to steal thr headlines...

Send back Castillo. That's the one city that might like him....

Yet the "younger, homegrown stars" still have the higher payroll, and fewer cheaper, homegrown players. ..

Sure it is. This type of quote means nothing, especially when its supported. Just because a team doesn't win it all doesn't mean they could not have. Yes they did not hit home runs. But this was built to be a pitching first team that went through most of the season without one of its best pitchers. Don't underestimate what Price's injury meant...

Yet fans still insist the team spend kajillions of dollars to bring in free agents every year to prove that winning trumps making money as a priority. This is in spite of the fact that almost every big money free agent at one point becomes the exact type of hindrance, since most of them are already on the wrong side of 30 and don't have 6 or 7 good years left. And this happens time and time and time again. And somehow fans think their GM is bad to take the 1 or 2 lemons. And now those 2 bad deals are PREVENTING this team from getting better. What a bad GM!! We can't sign the free agents we NEED!! The best way to build a strong team is to avoid any free agent deal longer than 3 years. And have a strong farm. But that method takes too long for most fans...

I heard Hanley contacted the Red Sox and expressed a strong desire to come back. At the time, the Red Sox were deep into Pablo Sandoval negotiations. I heard but cannot verify Hanley stated he was open to any position, which was how thr LF experiment began. Obviously I am left out of these negotiations, and the only real support has been that Hanley certainly left both money and years on the table to come to Boston. And he hasn't shown anything remotely resembling an attitude problem, despite many fans trying to paint him exactly that way...

Did he deserve a Gold Glove for his defense alone?

He had contemporaries who were better fielders but who didn't hit as many home runs...

Despite his shortened season, Hanley was a pretty good offensive force the season before signing in Boston. So now that he isn't, many want to rush him our to make way for the next free agency bust that used to be a pretty good offensive player somewhere else. And who can be had for more money and more years than Hanley. Yeah!!!

Like the Yankees or not, Judge is a legitimate candidate. To me, the big argument against him is the Yankees did quite well during his second half swoon...

I disagree. To some free agents, particularly ones with other options, that the Sox intentionally attempted to prevent a lucrative option from vesting could easily tip the scales in another direction. Or make it more difficult to include any vesting option in the future. ..

Like I said before, it used to be a bigger joke. A lot of times it just went to the best offensive player. Defensive metrics are good and have probably had a positive impact on the GG,but the metrics themselves are not perfect. If you believe disagreeing with defensive metrics makes the Gold Glove a joke, what about other awards where voting and sabermetrics don't align? Is MVP a joke because it doesn't always go to the highest fWAR in the league?

That's long been a big problem. Might as well give 4 infielders Gold Gloves and let them all go to shortstops.

No chance. Especially if you want a discount.

Entirely possible. THe biggest issue with him is he doesn't play the position they need. Certainly converting him to be a 1B isn't a big deal, and he could have a 1B/DH timeshare with Hanley (whose option is vesting, barring injury. People need to stop these "Duda/Alonso" stopgap suggestions that would only lead to an eventual grievance from the union and make Boston a less desirable stop for other free agents). But it is Martinez choice. Maybe he likes Arizona? Maybe he likes the OF? Maybe he likes both? Apparently he became a legend there quickly and the DBacks were as good as the Sox last season...

I'm not sure. That contract might have also been a negatively perfect storm for Encarnacion. Don't forget he turned down a bigger deal from Toronto. The fact that Boston (sometimes the drunkest of the sailors) stepped out of the bidding really hurt EE's chances.

Buxton, you mean. Actually those are pretty good candidates if you're not nominating JBJ. Kiermaier is another but he missed a lot of time this year. It's not like they put Aaron Judge up instead of Bradley. The GG was a bigger joke when guys like Mike Schmidt won it every year for lackluster defensive play but lots and lots of home runs...

My offseason expectations are somewhat minimal. I do hope Dombrowski leaves the outfield alone. Fon't deal Bradley I hope if anyone is dealt for a legit power hitting 1B, it is Bogaerts. Not because I think he is an underachiever, but because he has less control left than Bradley, and as recently as July, had more trade value per fangraphs than all but 44 players in MLB. I do realize there is actually a chance Bogaerts has an unprecedented breakout year and solves a big chunk of the power void himself, but I prefer not banking on that. Obviously, that would have a fallout of getting a new SS. I'd saciifice the offense here for defense. THe real issue the Sox have this off-season is trad bait. Especially if there are any limits on the budget. JD Martinez seems like the easy answer. But there are two problems 1) it's his choice. He might prefer a number of other options. And 2) he might be looking at 6 years $130mill or so, which will take him to age 37. If you don''t like 34yo Hanley, what do you realistically expect from Martinez as he ages?

I hated the Pomeranz trade, but the guy turned out to be a legit pitcher. and his peripherals over the past couple seasons suggest this isn't a one-season wonder. The odds that Espinoza actually turn out as good are shrinking rapidly (which doesn't make him garbage)...