S5Dewey

Now there's a really good question! IMHO they're going to re-sign (not to be confused with resign) two of those B's and my best guess is that two of them will be outfielders and one will be named Benintendi. The second one will be Mookie unless his demands are sky-high, and then the second one will be JBJ - who should go cheaper. Ya, I know that good hitting SS's are hard to find but this one is going to command - and get - a whopping load of money. Enough money so that if they sign him he could be the only one of the four to get signed, and I don't see them letting 2/3 of their OF get away. I hope I'm wrong about that and we can re-sign 3 or (pipe dream) all four. But that's JMO and we're a few years away from that yet. Anything can happen in that time. And I know.. my math doesn't always work out, but I still think XBo is a goner. :-(

It seems that way, but their thinking may change if one of their closest competitors makes a big acquisition late in July. Stay tuned for later news.

Ya. MLB has figured out a way to control the spending of teams like the Yankees, Dodgers, and yes, our Sox. They tried to do it by establishing the LT limit but some teams have apparently decided that the tax is nothing more than an affordable cost of salaries. It's only money. Don't underestimate the effect of losing draft picks. This is not only money, it's the players of the future. Remember that there are potential FA's that don't get signed because the player has a Qualifying Offer and thereby costs the 'new' team not only salary money but also a draft pick. Consequently some of these acquisitions don't happen. Owners understand that they need these draft picks to remain competitive and the loss of the pick and/or the loss of slot money allocation is going to be a big obstacle when establishing salary limits so it's becoming more vital to frequently be under the LT limit.

IMO this business of the budget being limitless is overblown. We as fans and JH as owners see things somewhat differently. We want to win at any cost. Why not? It's not our money! However, we as fans have to realize that MLB is first and foremost a business for the owners and like any business they're going to try to make money at it. I'm the first to admit that I don't know how much money the Red Sox organization makes (or loses) as a whole so I may be talking through my hat somewhat, but JH didn't get rich by making poor investments. My guess is that JH sees owning a team probably as an expensive hobby that he's willing to support but not lose his shirt on. Therefore the budget is limitless only in terms of how much he can spend and still end up with a profit. We'd like to think that the FO is willing to spend whatever it takes to build a championship team but JH is under no obligation to sustain a financial loss in order to appease his fans. Whether we like it or not, at the end of the day it's all somewhat about following the money.

I can remember when Sale was the ace that was going to push us over the top. Now he's the ace who keeps us in contention.

I met a guy through the old BDN site who's a "Roadie". He puts up and tears down stages for entertainers. He was once tearing down a stage after a Willie Nelson concert, saw Willie, and asked if he'd be willing to autograph a guitar for him. Wiliie agreed, and told my friend to drop by Willie's trailer when the roadie crew got done. He was met at the trailer door by a member of Willie's crew who invited him inside, only to see Willie rolling "a fat one". Willie autographed the guitar and they passed the joint back and forth a couple of times before my friend left. He's regretfully told me that "I'll never smoke weed with Willie again".

I think he's going to last here. If he's pitching well everyone will get off his back and he'll be happier here, and if he's not pitching well he's not crazy enough to give up that big contract. I liked the idea of his coming here but I hated the contract. I may be the only one who doesn't have a problem with Price's attitude. As far as I can see he's doing exactly what most of us want to see. When he fails he doesn't blame anyone else, he just says, "I have to do better" - which is true. There's no doubt that the media and the fans are tough here. I often wonder if "we" don't contribute in some way to the continued failure of a player when they not only have to deal with the frustration of the failure they also have to contend with the media's harping on it.

Yep. Greg Harris. He wanted it in his contract that he'd be allowed to pitch at least one game with his left hand (he was predominately right handed). but the Sox wouldn't give in. I was disappointed. I wanted to see it happen, if only for the oddity of it.

Go sober up.

I took you off Ignore so I could read nit-picking crap like this??? It wasn't put out as a statistic or a supposition. It was a question formulated to support AJP's contention that anyone can find something bad to say about someone if they choose to put the right spin on a fact.

That's a really good post. We all need to remember that many of these players aren't Rhode's Scholars. However, smart or not, they have to be coachable to be able to succeed at this level, not only to get there but to stay there.

I dunno. How can you trust a player who can't spell his own first name right?

Hell, the Sox had one who could pitch with either hand!

As I said before, my biggest concern with bringing Devers up now is that he may not be ready, and if he gets sent back down we've used up a year of options. Id prefer to have our FO reasonably certain that he can play as soon as he gets called up. I understand that options may or may not be an issue in 2-3 years, but I tend to err on the side of caution when I can. And BTW, I had the same concern with Beni and look how that worked out. I'm not ALWAYS right.. it just seems that way.

..and since I didn't bring that guy's name up.... I see no doubt that this team would be better than it is with Bogy and Iggy on the left side, regardless of which position they're at. And cheaper, too.

As I've said, I'm not lobbying for Lin to be our SS. I just think that we're hamstringing ourselves when we decide to eliminate a possibility that might make the team better in the name of keeping one player comfortable. Players change positions. Benintendi was a CF'er. Mookie was a 2B-man. My problem is with any player who 'pulls a Derek Jeter' and essentially refuses to move off his position even though it could make the team better. - and gets away with it! Tail wagging dog.

From MLB.com. "The mystery injury that David Price acquired during his start against the Angels on Saturday was revealed to be a cracked fingernail on the middle finger of his left hand."

That could very well be. As long as DD is allowed to 'tread water' he's giving Devers more experience in the minors. Which reminds me... I need to get to Portland to see this guy in person! Devers, not DD.

Mike Trout has only played in 47 games this year due to a torn ligament in his thumb. Is this the beginning of his being injury-prone? Pablo Sandoval was a two-time All - Star while in San Franscisco. During those years with the Giants he posted an an average OPS of >.800 and played on two World Series Championship teams. Now, I don't agree that either of those statements tell the whole story, but they prove that if a person wants to "prove" something the data can be spun to prove it.

You hit exactly on my personal standard. I want - but don't always get - my corner IF's to hit ~.270 with an OPS >.799, and be able to field his position. He doesn't have to be Brooks Robinson @ 3B but his defense should be at least as good as Marerro's. Which is yet another reason why Mike Lowell will always be one of my favorite players.

I got mine from Baseball Reference. This is one of the problems I have with WAR. It's called the same thing on both sites but it's calculated differently giving different results. Which one is credible? Either? Neither? And yet it's become the standard for determining a player's worth. Maybe it's as AJP said on the broadcast the other night, there are so many statistics out there now that if a person wants to find one to make a player look bad it's there, and if you want to find one to make that player look good, that one is there too.

..and I gave up on the "wake and bake" many years ago, although sometimes I wonder why!

This is still the tail wagging the dog, and akin to blackmail.

Because to use the undisputable standard for all ratings on both offense and defense otherwise known as WAR, Marerro has a dWAR of -0.2 and Bogaerts has a dWAR of +2.1 Whether XBo would be "happy" at 3B doesn't matter much to me because I see it as a prime case of the tail wagging the dog. Do we really have to cater to a player's ego in order to make them "happy"?

And like I said, I'm not lobbying for Lin to be moved up. I'm just saying that everything we've tried hasn't worked so maybe we should be thinking about something different.