harmony

Yovani Gallardo posted 0.0 fWAR and 0.1 bWAR this year in 28 appearances, including 22 starts, with a projected 2018 WAR of 0.2 in 25 appearances, including five starts: http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=8173&position=P Gallardo had an ERA of 1.69 in six relief appearances covering 16 innings.

Seattle needs pitching but was compelled to cut ties with Hisashi Iwakuma, who had a $10 million option or $1 million buyout for 2018, and Yovani Gallardo, who had a $13 million option or $2 million buyout for 2018. Iwakuma gave the Mariners a few great seasons but injuries have slowed the righthander as the veteran approaches his age 37 season. The nearly 32-year-old Gallardo did not produce in his only year in Seattle but the Mariners may try to bring him back at a lower salary as the M's blur the distinction between starting pitchers and relievers. The Mariners face serious challenges this offseason.

I read that with some interest. Lorena Martin, Seattle's director of high performance, reportedly will employ advanced analytics in injury prevention and athletic performance: http://m.mlb.com/news/article/260124068/seattle-hires-lorena-martin-to-direct-training/ Dr. Martin completed a three-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Diego, where Jonah Dipoto, son of Seattle GM Dipoto, is a reliever on the Triton baseball team.

When I noted the Dodger success since the trade you responded: "No thanks to CC, Beckett and even AGon." I noted their contributions to the string of five straight seasons of 90+ wins.. Dodger fans are probably too busy celebrating five consecutive NL West titles to dwell on an August 2012 trade. Red Sox fans, on the other hand, could comfort themselves in the last-place seasons of 2014 and 2015 by pointing to the 2013 World Series crown and the money saved in the 2012 trade with the Dodgers. I question whether there was a strong connection between the August 2012 trade and the 2013 World Series title. The Sox won the lottery of the mid-range free agent market in the 2012-13 offseason with the signings of Shane Victorino, Mike Napoli, Jonny Gomes and Koji Uehara. Each far exceeded expectations which, coupled with Boston Strong, made 2013 a special season.

All I wrote was that the Dodgers "survived" the trade by advancing to the postseason five straight years with contributions from Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez in some of those years. The trade was not the Dodger disaster some Red Sox fans make it out to be. Since the trade, the Dodgers have posted a 491-355 (.580) regular-season record while the Red Sox have posted a 441-405 (.521) record with two last-place finishes. Boston fans can continue their long-standing tradition of dissing departed Red Sox players but Carl Crawford earned his 2013 and 2014 salaries with the Dodgers, according to fWAR salary conversion: http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=1201&position=OF#value ... before resembling the Pablo Sandoval or Hanley Ramirez of recent years.

Carl Crawford posted seasons of 2.8 and 2.6 fWAR for the Dodgers while Adrian Gonzalez posted seasons of 2.9, 3.6 and 3.9 fWAR for the Blue. The 2017 American League East champions had only two position players post at least 2.4 fWAR.

The 2013 Red Sox season was an outlier.

The Astros' story from back when: https://www.si.com/longform/astros/index.html

The Dodgers survived with five straight postseason berths with at least 91 wins each season, including 104 wins this year.

The MLBTR predictions would add $44 million AAV to the Ref Sox payroll.

The MLB Trade Rumors predictions have the Red Sox signing free agents J.D. Martinez, Logan Morrison and Bryan Shaw: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/11/2017-18-top-50-mlb-free-agents-with-predictions.html

I thought the sarcasm emoji pointed to the tongue-in-cheek nature of my response.

The Red Sox need a first baseman; the Baltimore Orioles have several. The Orioles need pitching; the Red Sox have several pitchers. Chris Davis for Drew Pomeranz? Who needs numbers when the needs are met?

Back on the old Boston Globe forum Houston was criticized for a baseball-low $44.5 million payroll in 2014 despite receiving revenue-sharing funds from other clubs. Critics contended the Astros should not receive revenue sharing if they weren't going to spend it on personnel. I drew the analogy to the person who sets aside savings instead of living paycheck to paycheck. Those savings come in handy at the proper time. Houston was in a position to acquire Justin Verlander (and Josh Reddick, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran) when many other teams weren't.

The Angels have signed Justin Upton to a five-year contract: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/11/angels-extend-justin-upton.html

Sports Illustrated called it in this 2014 cover story: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/10/mlb-world-series-astros-sports-illustrated-cover-2014

In the down years the Astros resisted the temptation to sign veterans to attain transient mediocrity and instead planned for the future. Houston has been rewarded for its deferred gratification.

I would never use the word "ugly" to describe a human being. Although this discussion has turned ugly.

Randy Johnson was 6 foot, 10 inches. Hack Wilson, who drove in a record 191 runs in 1930, was 5 foot, 6 inches tall. Wilson played in the 1924 and 1929 World Series. Yogi Berra and Joe Morgan, who each stood 5 foot, 7 inches, combined for 18 World Series.

Hey, it might work if the Cubs added Jason Heyward to the deal.

Kyle Schwarber and Andrew Benintendi are clearly different hitters but I would note that Schwarber has posted 1.1 bWAR and 3.3 fWAR in 200 MLB games while Benintendi has posted 3.1 bWAR and 2.8 fWAR in 185 games.

FanGraphs Depth Charts has posted these early WAR projections for 2018: Andrew Benintendi: 2.2 WAR in 150 games Kyle Schwarber: 1.7 WAR in 100 games Javier Baez: 1.4 WAR in 111 games Ian Happ: 1.1 WAR in 147 games Kris Bryant: 6.1 WAR in 160 games Mookie Betts: 5.6 WAR in 163? games http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=17901&position=OF Benintendi had a solid rookie season, ranking seventh among rookie hitters in fWAR, largely on the strength of his extensive playing time: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2017&month=0&season1=2017&ind=2&team=&rost=&age=&filter=&players= Benintendi entered the season ranked first, first and third on prospect lists at Baseball America, MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus, after narrowly maintaining his rookie status with 105 at-bats in 2016. In contrast, Houston infielder Alex Bregman, who is three months older than Benintendi, missed the cut with 201 at-bats in 2016. Bregman, the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft, posted 3.8 fWAR and 4.1 bWAR this year while Benintendi, the No. 7 pick in the 2015 draft, posted 2.2 fWAR and 2.6 bWAR this year. Each has five years of team control. FanGraphs Depth Charts projects 2018 WAR of 3.7 for Bregman and 2.2 for Benintendi. The Cubs may be interested in Benintendi but we don't know how much the Cubs value the 23-year-old outfielder.

The Cubs should just trade Javier Baez, who this year posted 2.2 fWAR and 2.9 bWAR in 145 games, for Andrew Benintendi, who this year posted 2.2 fWAR and 2.6 bWAR in 151 games. Baez can cover second base until Dustin Pedroia returns before filling an important utility role. However, Benintendi comes with five years of team control while Baez has only four years of team control.

I would not trade Andrew Benintendi for Kyle Schwarber but I responded to the comment that "It would depend on what Theo thinks about Benintendi's potential."

True. Theo Epstein may think five years of Andrew Benintendi is worth no more than four years of Kyle Schwarber to the power-needy Red Sox.