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The QO system was pretty broken. The Type A Type B system did make sense. You sign a free agent away fromaanother team and get a pick. It's like a trade. And I like the idea of the losing a player getting a sandwich pick. But the whole idea of losing a first round pick for signing any free agent is nothing but a penalty. It's MLB saying " I see you spent a lot of money to improve your team, stay competitive, and appease your fan base. How dare you!! We havecconsequences for that!"

It didn't surprise me once we saw what the asking price for Adam Eaton was...

Not sure how many GMs use Steamer future projections, but I would guess very few. And certainly none use it the way you do. Yes Buchholz is projected for 0.5 fWAR, down from 1.7. But the part you part you keep omitting is that the current projection has him making SIX STARTS. This is probably because the acquisition of Sale and Thornburg has left his role in a question mark, not because he lost any talent or health. Any team acquiring Buchholz probably plans to use him for more than six starts. And would be ecstatic if he was worth 0.5 fWAR over that stretch on a consistent basis. ...

I'd think he's a pretty good answer if he can be had on a Nelson Cruz type deal. ..

Why would they flip Moreland (which they can't do without his permission until mid-June anyway)? Put Moreland on the bench and move Hernandez to Pawtucket. As for the "admitting a mistake", not remotely true. GMs make moves based on changing circumstances all the time. That's how Dombrowski signed Fielder. Heck thats how Epstein signed Adrian Beltre. The mistake would be NOT signing someone like Moreland and hoping/waiting to get Bautista in the Nelson Cruz deal with no fallback option in place. Maybe the market for Bautista will pick up. But if it doesn't, I would expect Dombrowski to see if he can get a Nelson Cruz type deal in place....

The Rockies are adding players, not subtracting. So Gonzalez, whom they turned down offers for at the deadline last season, will probably cost a lot more than one late first round pick. Plus he's not the same hitter away from Coors...

In 2014, no one wanted Nelson Cruz. He signed a one year $8mill deal with Baltimore. He went on to have a terrific season. If no one wants Bautista, you don't think he will be worth a similar deal? Or do you think the Sox are better off Moreland and Young?

If Buchholz is dealt then there may not be. Especially if he takes some crazy Nelson Cruz type deal...

Think Dombrowski goes after him? All the speculation on MLB Network is that Jose is garnering has no interest from anyone and will likely settle for a one year deal. And since Dombrowski seems to like tbe idea of going all in when you're close, isn't Bautsta more "all in" than Mitch Moreland? I know he will cost a first round pick. But when you've already dealt a top ten prospect and a major leaguer for Tyler Thornburg, is a late first round pick really a stumbling block here? If Bautista is still available mid-January, I would be surprised if Dombrowski didn't make a move...

I actually like what Dombrowski has going into 2017, but before people get too busy genuflecting, he did get fired by the Tigers, probably due to (or at least partially) the sad financial position of that team, for which he has some blame with his crazy extensions that he gave to Cabrera and Verlander. The Tigers aren't having a fire sale this off-season because they can't compete. They're having one because they can't maintain their payroll per the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

I like Seth Smith a lot better than I like Mitch Moreland. But I can see why they opted for Moreland as their choice. Upgrade the infield defense. Smith brings almost nothing to the team defensively...

Per MLB Network on Sirius this morning, the Red Sox are prioritizing trading Clay Buchholz over Drew Pomeranz. For a return, hopefully they can get starting pitchers with options who are better than Owens and Johnson. ...

Agreed. Per Billy Beane, "[Management's] job is to get to the post-season. Once you're in, it's all luck."

Off the top of head, Josh Reddick.

It really doesn't make sense to rest either vs LHP. Bradley may never hit LHP all that well, but still contributes with excellent defense. Benintendi doesn't have so much of s history against LHP that we need to worry about him just yet...

3b will be either a lefty bat (Sandoval, Holt, Hernandez) or a non-bat (Marrero, if he actually makes the team). I'm hoping Benintendi plays against everyone and Young only spells Moreland...

Be careful. Your sensitive side is showing. ..

Out of curiosity, do you post about anything other than insulting players, whining about other posters, and trying to convince people you're not doing those things. By the way, kudos for typing out a whole post with making an insulting reference to Sandoval's weight. I wasn't sure you could do it...

Off that list we mightb actually miss only like 4 or 5 players. I don't mind trading prospects. For many of them, their prospect status might be the pinnacle of their usefulness. But if you builda team by trading prospects, you do need to knoe how to get more. In that area, my faith I Dombrowski is so high just yet. He does get points for Groome. But his drafting history is shaky overall

Personally my expectations are fairly low. When the season starts, Sandoval will not have faced MLB pitching on a consistent basis for 18 months. As he was not exactly a stellar hitter to begin with, I don't expect a rapid adjustment. My hope is he turns out like Lackey. Gives two awful seasons with a missed year and miraculously turns it around. But that's probably too much to expect. ..

I wouldn't put much faith in Eric Wilbur's assessment of anything. Wilbur, like many people, doesn't understand the normal attrition rate of prospects, even top ones. No team sees all of their top ten make the majors for any prolonged length of time, let alone become stars. Especially recently, the Sox have excelled in this area. They have four starters from their farm with less than 3 years in the majors, and only Benintendi has yet to be an all star (for hopefully obvious reasons). The Cubs are the team everyone loves as young talent, but in their lineup and rotation how many prospects have become starters for them? Just Bryant and Contreras. And unless Baez starts, they will have as many Sox farm products as their own, thanks to Rizzo and Lester. Most top ten lists really only yield a handful of major leaguers, and even fewer bona fide stars. Even the BA Top 100 list.contains maybe 10 all star caliber players annually. And three times that many from any list any year will never make the majors beyond maybe a September call up. And that is the list of the best of the best. So yes, we will have prospects bust. So will everyone else. And that's ok. The Sox have 6 levels of minor league baseball feeding a singular 25 man roster, like every team. But in the past few seasons the Sox minor league teams have been doing a great job feeding their MLB team. And deciding they aren't just because Lars Anderson and Casey Kelly didn't pan out doesn't change this. If you think this is the case, why keep Benintendi? Surely he will flop, because Steve Lomasney did. Now where is a700, who tried to call me out a week ago when I pretty much Sox fans would react exactly like this?

I expect Buchholz to be dealt. And also Elias. And maybe Hembree or Abad as well...

I've mentioned Holliday a couple times, but his better days are past. Over the last three years, he's gone down to being barely above average

I never said you were against trading prospects. I questioned if you were the guy asking about Dombrowski's reputation for dealing prospects. Someone did and made me look up his trading history. ..

Now we just need for Dombrowski to stop taking to Mitch Moreland. After his first two moves today, that would be anticlimactic. It's like starting off a meal with a delicious shrimp cocktail, and following it up with tje perfect streak., and then for dessert serving a healing helping of Mitch Moreland.