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Am I the only one who never understood that whole "needs to figure out an identity" thing? I don't mean to single out Dojii here; I hear that line all the time every year in the media about one team or another. What is a "team identity"? Why is it essential? In a game that us largely composed of cumulative individual efforts as opposed to synchronized team play, I find it confusing. Will players on a team that hasn't figured out their identity hit worse or pitch worse? Is a team identity like "team chemistry", in that you can argue that teams that play better establish their identity as opposed to teams need an identity to play better?

Ross will disappoint unless Texas suddenly decides to play their home games in Petco. Tyson Ross is overrated and the less desirable pitcher of the two brothers. ..

True, but sooner or later reality will kick in and any job will look better. And really, anyone who signs with Boston is potentially one Spring Training injury away from a spot on the opening day roster. ..

Reportedly Dombrowski said he wanted a left-handed option. But it is possible price was his only concern..

I'm not so big on Moreland, and I think the defensive upgrade will have a minimal impact. But outside of a blockbuster signing like Encarnacion or (I can't believe I'm about to include this guy) Trumbo, it is really hard to make the case for any of the other second tier options like Moss or Lind or Morrison as definitive and obvious superior choices. I do think limiting the choices to a left-handed bat was being way too simple and unnecessarily eliminated some other decent choices like Napoli, and even to a lesser extent, Chris Carter..

It's also possible Hembree makes the roster and Barnes starts the season in AAA. Hembree was the more effective reliever of the two last season. ...

Didn't the team that won the World Series that year have an opening day rotation of Edinson Volquez, Chris Young, Yordano Ventura, Danny Duffy, and Jeremy Guthrie? Is that really so much better? It's not all about the rotation.

Is it if the team has to shop JD Martinez and Ian Kinsley just to stay afloat? And Cabrera still has 7 years and $212mill REMAINING!!!! Coupled with the $84mill still owed to Verlander over the next three seasons, and that is an INSANE $300 million to two aging players who are most definitely NOT going to repeat their 2016 seasons until their respective free agencies. Is this really how a team builds a window to win in your eyes?

Me too. Cherington's "rebuilding" strategy involved the Great Reset Button trade, which then only took slightly over 13 months to lead to a title. He also didn't deal Lester and Lackey for prospects and instead focused on Major Leaguers. That's not building a sustainable farm. He did sign a lot of free agents, including Uehara, Napoli, Drew, Victorino, Dempster, Sandoval, Hanley, etc. Dombrowski's method of garnering stability was to sign Verlander and Cabrera to such cumbersome deals, the Tigers are actually trying to work in a rebuilding period right now...

He did have a poor year, but if you're going to be wrong, better off being writing a one year deal as opposed to a seven year one...

Once a player is willing to take a minor league deal, the Sox should start looking like one of the better options, given their pitching depth in the upper minors and outfielder contract nightmares at that same level...

Kids aren't afraid of vacuum cleaners...

...died today in a car accident. Former Sox prospect Andy Marte also died today in a seperate car accident. ..

I can't fault Cherington for the Masters in deal. The guy was one year removed from being the best pitcher on the Cleveland staff and was willing to sign a one year deal...

Kendrick is garbage, but he is smart and necessary garbage. ..

Maybe you need to stop going on the carpet. ..

His UZR is above average, but entering last year he was one DRS above league average for his career. ..

It may not be doghouse for Vazquez nearly as much as the job is simply Leon's to lose...

In the absence of actual baseball topics, I'm going to revisit this signing. While he's hardly a key component and more likely a placeholder for Sam Travis (my prediction - up by mid- August), I really don't like this guy. Granted, it's hard to sing the praises of Brandon Moss or Adam Lind or Logan Morrison over him. It's really a borderline inconsequential signing, but it's not like anyone is generating better new topics. First, the defense. While he is coming off a Gold Glove season, Moreland really isn't normally an elite defender at the position. The Rangers used him at DH and in the outfield alot, which makes me wonder about his true glove skills. It's not like Prince Fielder and Jurickson Profar and some of their other first slackers were known for great glove work. Why did it take a career-ending injury to Fielder to get him a regular job there? He also really isn't a great hitter. Really his one skill seems to be absolutely mashing no doubt tape measure home runs. If you've ever seen a Moreland home run, you know what I am talking about. He'll clear the bullpen at least half a dozen times next year,and clear it by a lot. But really what bugs me is this integrated 1b/DH platoon. Moreland has always struggled vs LHP. This probably won't change. So if an opposing team brings in a LHP to face him, pinch hitting is not so much of a no-brainer. Young can likely hit, but then who plays first? Hanley can't, unless the Sox want to forego the DH. Holt certainly could, but there will be times he's already in the game. Or already out of it. Normally in a true platoon, one counterpart is always on the bench and steps in to replace the starter. It's that easy. But when a platoon is integrated with the DH, things get needlessly complicated. And is Moreland worth needlessly complicating things over? In this respect, maybe a better flat out hitter who would make for a better DH platoon mate would have made more sense...

Aces? We faced Josh Tomlin and Trevor Bauer (who started the season in the bullpen) in two out of our three playoff games. The Guardians used some guy named Ryan Merritt in the clincher against Toronto. Outside of Kluber, who were all these "aces"?

He really didn't pitch terrible lastv year either. He cruised through the first inning, have up a couple cheap hits (and one decently hit line drive by Guyer), and then Chisenhsll hit a line drive that wrapped around the foul pole just high enough. In the 3 plus innings he pitched, the Guardians only hit the ball well three times. But they had two infield hits and got enough men on base (Price did help them with some walks - he certainly wasn't great) to really do some damage....

Clement was an All Star his first season in Boston. .

It's low for Wright because it's high for Pomeranz. This protectionist assumed Pomeranz would get the bulk of the starting opportunities over Wright, which may or may not be true...

I wouldn't say the bench was a weakness. Typically the bench is only for short term depth, so having Holt is a definite plus many teams don't have. If there is an injury in the infield or outfield, long term replacements often come from the farm. With Swihart, the catching is fine. But behind Holt (whose only partial infield depth because he also backs up the outfield) and Rutledge, the infielders appear to be Marco Hernandez and Deven Marrero. The outfield has Rusney Castillo, Junior Lake and Brian Bogusevic. The Sox have no Benintendi-type prospects ready to step in long term if anyone gets hurt. So Holt is the man, but he can only cover for one injury at a time. ..

Don't forget about Junior Lake! Actually on second thought, forget about Junior Lake. ..