Nick

I'm willing to give Whitlock a shot at going 6-7 innings while only making $1M.

You are missing the point. Whitlock should be a starter and I have no problem saying it. All of you straddle the fence, as always. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. We complain about not having starters and then turn a possible starter into a reliever. That's just plain stupid.

I 100% agree with you. With our history of having not produced starting pitchers, you would think Moon would want every pitcher that has opportunity to start in majors given chance to start. Yet he's more inclined to keep Whitlock in the pen and go spend for another Richards. He keeps straddling the fence. See I have no trouble saying it. Give Whitlock chance to start AND FIND HIS REPLACEMENT IN THE PEN.

I stand by my comment....Schwarber is paid $10M. JD is paid $22M to play half of the game. If you can't see the disparity in 'value', I have no use talking to you OLD RED.

Mookie received $20M for his arb 2 year. It'll be interesting to see how far apart Devers/Sox are for 2022, Dever's arb #2 year.

JD is paid $22M, Schwarber is playing for $10M...... Who has ever said Schwarber will get JD money? Not even Ortiz made that much money as a DH. Old Red needs to quit picking on Schwarber......he's been big help to Sox during the stretch.

But I prefer Houck as the closer.

I don't mind sitting in that wagon.....make it so gigantic that the present value ends up around $25M.....

This has been an amazing year and it's not over. It's been a learning year for Sox operations people. They were able to play several players that may or may not be here next year. Schwarber....I want him back but not as 1B. You gotta make simple plays. Too many ball chances at first. He's performed well as a non 1B, but not as a 1B. Houck/Whitlock....If I had to pick, Whitlock would start and Houck stay in the bullpen. Bellhorn asked what the hell does it mean to be a shut down pitcher? Well, I would trust Houck for 9th inning more than I would Whitlock. But I would trust Whitlock to go 6 or 7 innings more than I would Houck. Just my eyes....no analytics. Devers....you give him what he wants. You build the future around him. But you only get one of those. Don't negotiate with Xander. It's still a defensive position. Go with gut. Dalbec...he can hold down 1B until Casas, then he can split time between 1B, 3B and DH. For 2022, JD, Vaz, Dalbec, Arroyo, Xander, Devers, Verdugo, Kike and Renfroe. Strengthen pitching staff.

Part of building a strong core is to make sure the players you're talking about arrives at about same time. It would seem Casas is way ahead of say Mayer from being major league ready. Not to say it won't happen. If that is the plan then Devers should be traded for high end starting pitcher who is under team control for 4+ years. Unless of course Sox consider him to be the cornerstone of future in which case Devers should be extended.

No.....we were too busy piling on earlier. Life is easy when you're hitting two grand slams.

And Xander wants a raise? Let him opt out.

Sale just needs to shut the f*** on his post game interview. He didn't do his job. His counterpart outpitched him. Just go have a seat Chris.

Chris Sale is reduced to all talk and no action. Great trade. Horrible extension.

Why did they bring him back out? Take the 1 run game and let him enjoy himself.

The essence of Red Sox offense....biggest pile on group in majors.......They'll score 15 runs to win a game and then get shut out next two games. But we averaged 5 runs per game so there's that...great offense.

My eyes tell me we want him to pitch 6 innings and hold the opponent to either 2 or 3 runs. Not to come into the 9th innings with one run lead.

It just means he'll do better in longer stints than one inning stint for the entire season. He did not pitch in high leverage situation until the end. It means he's hittable. Not sure if Cora can simply ask him to strike out a guy when that's what's needed. I don't think he's that type of pitcher. If you don't get what I'm saying then we have nothing to talk about in this matter.

I was on Whitlock bandwagon before many here, even before Moon. That said, I want to make a case for Whitlock being a starter. It's my view that he's not a closer. He doesn't have the shut down ability. He'll be better starting and trying to go as long as he can. I believe he's better suited to give the team Quality Start versus being a Closer. Not a knock on him, I just think he'll be better as a starter.

Just as you use hyperbole from time to time, so do I.....

Pivetta has thrown only 37 pitches in 3 innings.....chill out dudes....

Lefties have trouble throwing strikes vs him...or it seems....

Semien or Baez would be nice. They can play 2B until 2022, or we could trade Bogey to a team that lost their great SS to free agency- like HOU I like this idea......I'd do the same with Schwarber....it's only one year overlap with JD.....and he's better hitter than both Dalbec and Verdugo. I look at as direct trade off for Price's salary coming off after 2022. Probably similar amount of money. If we're going to go over for 2022 and I expect us to, then we might as well get the FAs one year early.

Huge outing by E Rod. Pivetta will now start G4.

Maxbialystock can relax a bit.....