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In the case of Batter X, you are talking anout one season worth of data broken down into small sample sizes. With post-season data, many look at it as one collective sample size of a few games spread out over many years.In Price's case, that means lumping in 2008 and 2009 in with 2016 as if they are all equally relevant. That's a long time ago, and not much is the same about Price is the same now as it was then. He's more experienced now, but also probably less fit. But typically the conclusion is "can't handle the pressure", which is sn insanely premature jump. Of course Slasher's initial postulate was that Price was equal to Buchholz, which is laughable. Even if we ignore actual performance, Price gave the Sox over 200 IP last year, which has many positive effects. Buchholz didn't do that for Boston once in 10 seasons. And it's not like they were bad innings. Price was also excellent after a rough June. Sure he didn't deliver on some expectations that might have been unreasonable to begin with. But he was still very, very good with some room to grow. And why the label of Price as a failure due to one post-season start and the subsequent coronation of Sale as the savior Price needed to be? Exactly what is it about Sale and his zero post-season starts that makes someone think he will fill this void?

So his season needed to be judged on 3 arbitrarily chosen regular season games that were no more significant t hann any other game plus one post-season appearance? Was Pedro judged this way after the 2003 ALCS?

And we all saw that same pitcher give up 6 earned runs in 3 IP in game one of that same series. You don't get to pick snd choose your outings when trying to define an ace if you believe he has the ability to induce ground balls or strikeouts at will. If you like highlighting post-season success to define an ace, fine. But Price only pitchedone such game for Boston. And his pprevious games with other teams wind up being a small sample spread out over too much time to really draw any actual conclusions....

But in that big second inning, the only really hard hit ball was that home run by Chisenhall that would have been a loud foul in 29 other ballparks. ...

Price was ine of the 10 best pitchers in the AL. If his post-season troubles are attributable to anything, it's probably that he throws over 200 IP every year and is more worn out come October. ...

The playoff dud game wasn't even all bad. He came out in the first inning and started by making the Guardians look bad. That one pitch to Chisenhall and a quick hook made the outing look much worse...

First of all, Price had a very good year last year. Don't kid yourself. Easily I might have been the biggest Buchholz supporter at BDC, but even I know Clay's career years don't equal Price's "bad: ones..

Yes a one post-season gsme sample size should be adequate. .

Other than both being Major League pitchers, I don't see much else in common between the two...

Beltre was the biggest mistake to let walk. In another universe, keeping Beltre might have meant not trading for Gonzalez, which could have meant keeping Rizzo. Also , Beltre has largely been flat out awesome, outside of his propensity for destroying left fielders....

Not hard to find, but you do have to look. Even the Cubs used 9 different starters last year, although many for just one game. But they had an unreliable level of health among there starters. The AL East champion Red Sox used 9 starters for multiple games each...

Depending on whom you choose to believe, one of either Pomeranz (bullpen) or Rodriguez (AAA) is not likely to make the rotation. If healthy, there seems to be very little talk of Wright to the bullpen. And therereally sshouldn't be if he's healthy. He had a great run last year, and knucklers make for risky relievers...

There are a few guys who might take minor league deals. Really my only hope is they are better than Owens, Johnson and Elias. If they aren't, no harm done. Some names off the top of my head, none of which are very sexy, include Dillon Gee, Lucas Harrell, Bud Norris, and Trevor Cahill. There might even be better options than these. I was a little disappointed that Rubby De La Rosa took a minor league deal elsewhere, but maybe staying with Arizona was a priority for him...

While i definitely see the merits of starting Rodriguez in AAA, Peter Abraham had written a while bsck thay the Sox might start the season with Pomeranz in the bullpen to reduce his workload after such a drastic increase last season. If he is right, Barnes becomes the odd man out as he is thr only reliever with an option left. The Sox do have 5 relievers on the 40-man roster who are not likely to make the 25-man rroster, which, if they are joined by Barnes and barring injury, is decent depth for April. They do only have 3 starters in the same boat, which is not much. Putting ERod in AAA decreases the bullpen depth but increases the starter depth, although gives an interesting position that the Sox have 4 MLB-ready pitchers in Pawtucket that are all left-handed. I'd like another MLB-ready starter in any case. Soxprospects list only 4 starters in Pawtucket, one br ing some guy named Scott Haviland that I know nothing about. If Barnes is in Boston, maybe a bullpen arm for depth is a good idea.

Not wild about that idea. The guy is like 44 years old...

Back to the thread title, my predictions Rotation-Sale, Price, Porcello, Rodriguez, Wright Bullpen: Kimbrel, Kelly, Thornburg, Pomeranz, Ross, Abad, Hembree AAA Rotation depth: Elias, Owens, Johnson AAA Bullpen depth: Barnes, Ramirez, Ysla, Scott, Martin, Workman. Thoughts? Those of you looking to add arms, where? These are just the options already on the 40-man roster. .

I always wondered if he injured his foot when Middlebrooks tripped him in the World Series. ..

April trades are pretty rare. Usually teams trying internal options first since they're cheaper and can be undone. ..

Looking for arm-for-arm replacements in the bullpen is a silly venture. How about having Chris Sale in the rotation over last season's back of yhe rotation starters taking up some innings and reducing the bullpen workload?

Defense-oriented catchers are not hard to find. Defense-oriented catchers who can hit are. So if Leon or Vazquez don't hit - and if either does, he becomes less likely trade bait - it won't be hard to find other equal alternatives on teams willing to take AA players as opposed to key components from the bullpen. ...

Or build up some depth now and see if the problem cannot be solved internally...

Or until the Sox clear a major salary obstacle (Sandoval? ) Even the act of adding him to the 40-man roster and making a deal where the Sox pay part of his salary could be cost-prohibitive. And it's not like he would net some game-changing player in return. Castillo can start looking for houses in Rhode Island, which is a shame. I think he is a major league player. But his best chance at returning to the majors might depend on whether or not Price opts out after 2018...

A contending team is also less likely to break up their bullpen and trade a useful reliever. Such a team would probably look elsewhere for a catcher and deal away players they are not counting on to contend...

I'd rather keep Swihart. There is no reason to assume Vazquez and Leon are a solution for the immediate future. If not for his salary, the Sox could probably trade Swihart for David Robertson yesterday.

Hey I'm working on a Samsung Galaxy keyboard with astigmatism here. If people reading my posts acknowledge thry are typed in English, I consider it a moral victory. As for the bullpen, at this point the Sox are unlikely to add anyone who is a definitive upgrade over Hembree, and possibly not even over Abad. I would hope their top three priorities the remainder of the off-season are depth, depth and depth...