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Epsstein won in 2004 with a largely inherited MLB team (but he did add Ortiz) and no farm system whatsoever. He built the farm while winning and was not the guy who decimated it.

Wasn't Jackie Robinson the first African American to achieve the rank of lieutenant in the army? I know he was among the first admitted to Officer Candidate School (after a lengthy protest)...

Name a GM who doesn't have to overspend after 7 or 8 years of drafting 30th or lower. Hint: Don't say Cashman. I also want to know what you mean by always has issues on the back end of a build. How many times has that really happened?

We still don't have anyone I would call a cleanup hitter. Our other weakness was signing Mitch Moreland because he was a defensive wizard, a tough competitor and always had his head in the game. The Sox had some elite defenders at first recently in Youkilis and Napoli, and Moreland was not their peer. Also I questioned how much his head was in the game at times, most notably in that triple play in Baltimore. Thankfully it was only a one year deal. Unless Moreland becomes our biggest acquisition of this off-season. ...

Absolutely. But he shines over other GMs at spotting the unrecognized talent in opposing systems and getting it for practically nothing. Or, in some cases, actually getting it for nothing...

What's your point? That Epstein realized Darvish was a good pitcher and somehow managed to sneak him on to thr roster while everyone else was napping? He got Darvish because he had a lofty budget. No baseball intuition required here. Unlike when he got the other pitchers I mentioned. Or brought Ortiz to Boston....

This is true. Hopefully he can bring some decent talent to this organization like that...

Theo's strength was never ponying up big money for guys like Darvish. Any GM can do that if they have a budget. Theo's strength was finding guys like Jake Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks and getting them for essentially nothing. Can Dombrowski do that?

Again you focus on the end of integration. I'd go on but this thread is really getting off topic if I do....

Apparently the new way is to bring back the exact same team and farm system from the year before. You have to like the way Dombrowski has made absolute certain no new talent has managed to sneak in anywhere, He's like a watch dog...

Cobb, Lynn and Darvish are all big health risks very likely to sit out a full season on their next deal. Pass on all four. Just sign Tillman for some depth. ..

Sign Tillman (bad year but AL East vet), and try to get Hellickson, Buchholz, Jesse Chavez, Trevor Cahill, Hector Santiago and /or Anibal Sanchez to minor league deals. Two or three of them should be sufficient

If teams are not willing to give 5 years at $20mill plus to JD Martinez, Ellsbury has no market at 3 years for rougjly the same price. All Ellsbury's has left are the expensive and less productive years teams are looking to avoid in the first place. There are plenty of younger and cheaper centerfielder available that can provide 2.4fWAR. ..

It appears to be a self-propagating stalemate The big ticket guys are not signing until they get better offers, but those offers won't get better until the other options are reduced by more second tier players signing. But the second tier guys are not signing as they are waiting out better offers from the teams that lose out on the bigger names. At some point, one or two big ticket names will sign to be ready for camp, and there may be some fallout. But I really doubt everyone signs in time...

I'm not saying Yawkey wasn't a racist. His racism is pretty well documented and reportedly cost the Sox a chance to sign Willie Mays. I just don't think saying they were the last team to integrate is necessarily the proof I would settle on. There was a last team in the NFL and NBA to integrate and no one accuses those owners of racism based on that. In fact, the way MLB celebrates their integration had always bothered me. Not only do they only honor one of the 4 African American players to play in 1947, but really the whole thing smacks of MLB saying "Congratulate us!! It only took us 80 years to get past the Civil War!!" Both the NFL and NBA also integrated at some point, but with significantly less fanfare. Anyone know who the first African American player was in either of those leagues without looking it up? Or even with looking it up? Those leagues bith did it so seamlessly and successfully many people never even think of them doing it at all..

Plus Arrieta carries QO penalties, unlike Martinez. ..

In 7 seasons, Eric Hosmer has never hit 28Hrs one time. He's not going to start doing it consistently and as a minimum. Unless he learns how to stop hitting ground balls so much. The real problem with Hosmer is he is an above average first baseman who wants to be paid like an elite first baseman. He's a bad idea...

I do recall not too long ago, Yankee fans were all about rings and seasons they didn't win one were considered failures. Now their trash talk is about maximizing their glory from one failed playoff run...

If the Yankees are going to hand out a short term deal like that, I would think Darvish or Arrieta would make more sense as recipients...

Im fine with LoMo and Nunez. And some pitching depth that can be stashed in Pawtucket. Like Hellickson or Buchholz or Locke. As for SP, Tillman and Cashner look like the best bets. Although it is always silly to underestimate Francisco Liriano. ..

I think the Sox would prefer Martinez sign a contract he wants as opposed to one he was extorted into accepting quickly.

Bring back Eduardo!! He's the only piece that has left last years's pennant-winning team!

Although someone had to be last, and that may not necessarily be tied to racism. After all, if you concede the last team to integrate was racist, what about the second last team? Are they also racist? Or the third last? When does it stop being racism and start just being the order of events?

It's somewhere in the $100 to $130 range. I've seen all kinds of numbers. The only consistent one is the 5 years. Either way, it's the best offer he has. And probably by a lot...

Yes but where is that breaking point? He could live the rest of his life on a 5 year $75mill contract, and AZ would undoubtedly love to offer that. But it won't happen, and we all know it. (Granted, the MLBPA would be rather upset with him for leaving $50mill on the table and setting a dangerous precedent.) But would the $50mill from Boston make him happy? And only for 5 years? No idea how Martinez feels about Boston, but for $50mill, I'll live in a sewer for 5 years. And then move out 5 years later directly to the north shore of Oahu. At some point, there is a breaking point where he returns to AZ, but part of me also knows he didn't hire Scott Boras because he wanted to give a hometown discount. Reportedly the DBacks' offer is now somewhat equal to Boston's, but it's only being reported that way by Jon Heyman, who's basically Scott Boras' homegrown version of Squealer. So right after DD spills the beans about Encarnacion, Boras runs back to the press and has his little toady say "the offers are equal!! The offers are equal!!" Not buying it. Unless that happened in the last 24 hours, which I doubt, then I still wonder why JD was only mad at Boston for being inflexible and not Arizona. To me it still looks like Boston is the only guy throwing money around. And I think Martinez' frustration might be more with Boras for letting this drag on than it is with Boston...