Nick

Trout's case has nothing to do with new rule. His old contract was voided and new one replaced. You got me on JD Martinez though. I have no link for you. But it seems silly to wait to sign on April 1st (a la Porcello) versus announcing on March 22nd.

12 years/$426.5M (2019-30) signed extension with LA Angels 3/20/19, replacing final two seasons of previous contract Trout signed a NEW CONTRACT that covers 2019 and beyond. Sale will sign a NEW CONTRACT that covers 2020 and beyond. 2019 is under the old contract.

It's great news about Chris Sale. Not concerned about Betts at all. Trade him after this season if he's going to test the free agency. Get something for him.

Severino had one year contract with Yankees for 2018. Chris Sale is on his last year of 7 year contract. Different scenario. Moon is right.

I thought replacement level meant average, thus it would lead to 81 wins.

Planning for the cliff Projected 2019 roster, Under team control 5 yrs Devers, Johnson, Velazquez, Brasier 4 yrs Vazquez, Beni, Eovaldi, Price, 3 yrs Dustin, E Rod, Barnes, Hembree, Workman 2 yrs Betts, JBJ, Sandy 1 yr Moreland, Xander, JD, Porcello, Sale, Pearce, Nunez, Holt, Thornburg I guess the good news is that we don't have any 10 year deals on the books. No bad deals right now as long as Price remains healthy. Final year of Sandoval.

We have five more years of Devers under team control and I'm going to just sit back watch him blossom. He's least of our worries.

What is enough for him? Trade him after the season. Surely we can get one bona fide young player for him.

Can we get one young, major league ready starting pitcher? I.m thinking either Dodgers or NL East team going all in.

This is how you reset after 2019. Starting point is $243M, luxury tax will be $208M in 2020. This is only if we intend to reset and rebuild quickly. Pablo $18M Xander $11M Pearce/Moreland $13M Porcello $20M Nunez $5M Holt $4M total savings of say $70M. Now you're at $173M. You trade Betts for 3 major league ready players and shed additional $20M off the books. Now you're at $153M. Extend Chris Sale, delta of $18M, CB Payroll now at $171M. Extend JD Hernandez, delta of $5M, CB Payroll is now at $176M. You still have $32M to take care of arbitration raises. "Major outlay" is only for Chris Sale. 2020 Line Up Beni, Devers, JD, JBJ, Pedey, Dalbec, Chavis, Chatam/Lin, Vaz....you have money to sign a veteran for $5M-$8M range. Pitching, Sale, Price, E Rod, Eovaldi and Hernandez Keep in mind that we'll get quality in return from Betts trade. 2021 Line Up You offer Betts $40M per year, you've reset, will stay below the last threashold, penalized at 20%, CBA will expire. Resign JBJ also. Beni, Betts, JD, Devers, Pedey, JBJ, Lin, Vazquez, Dalbec, Chavis, player from Betts trade can fit in here....this will be a poten lineup Pitching, Sale, Price, E Rod, Eovaldi and Hernadez. I'll take my chances in 2020 with a wild card birth. Starting pitching will take us from there. We're back in business in 2021.

Suppose we take care of Sale with his current salary plus Pablo's $18M this year, that's total of $33M. I'm not opposed to trading Betts after 2019. I would think we would get at least a young, established starting pitcher for him. You can then use Betts' $20M, Pearce/Moreland's $13M and sign two quality FA's. Trout and Betts can have greater impact over 162 game season. But I will take an elite starting pitcher over any position player for the World Series. Betts and JD did very little in the World Series. No way in hell I'd give Betts $40M for 10 years.

You have it correct, Moon. This is what DD has said all along. No one has said that they don't think he's a starting pitcher. Just that THIS YEAR, he may become a reliever to help the big league club. My guess is he will replace Porcello in the rotation next year.

You always want to be the best....we have the best worst record.

I honestly believe Sox just didn't want him based on his second half performance. Sox signing Eovaldi was the final nail in the coffin. Sox was unwilling to negotiate the length of deal with Kimbrel while everyone in the league was courting Eovaldi. Sox obviously wanted Eovaldi situation wrapped up as soon as possible.

It's silly to look for next 'Chris Sale' when we have the original ready to be extended.

You simply can not give up on this guy. Strong starting rotation is a must to field a world championship caliber team. Offense can come and go. Great pitching still trumps great hitting. This is what we're doing. We're replacing Sale/Porcello with Sale/Hernandez in 2020. Porcello's $20+M will take care of Sale's new contract. I expect the Sox to announce the extension in early April.

Sandy Leon worked as Sale’s personal catcher last year. But Christian Vazquez caught Sale’s first spring training start. Vazquez caught the first five innings before Leon replaced him in the sixth. Sale pitched 4 scoeless innings while giving up 2 hits and striking out 7. He said afterwards, "It would have been a no hitter and 12 strike out had Sandy been behind the plate".

Spring Training games are meaningless. It's not as though he's seeing opponent's best hitters.

How does Vazquez react after being told constantly that both Price and Sale prefer Sandy? You don't think it creates little bit of friction? I thought this team was all about unity?

Nothing like letting your teammate know that he sucks.

By Christopher Smith, MassLive It’s time for the Red Sox to trade Leon and commit to a Vazquez-Swihart combo. Swihart has the most offensive upside of the three catchers. He also improved defensively in 2018. He always has had a strong throwing arm and he showed much better ability blocking balls in the dirt last year. Sale prefers throwing to Leon. But Sale finished in the top six of the AL Cy Young voting five straight years with Chicago without Leon. He’ll be able to establish a relationship with Vazquez or Swihart. Are we going to trade Swihart and keep Leon just to please Sale who may not be here in 2020? Swihart has the highest ceiling of the three.

This is what has ruined NBA. Players run the league. Cora is our manager. He obviously thinks Vazquez can be our #1 catcher. Maybe we need to trade both Sale and Price along with Sandy. Because he is the only one that can catch the two.

We all share the love for our Red Sox. I've been a fan since July 19th, 1967. There has to be some intrigue about the season. No doubt Devers could have used more seasoning in the minors. But it's all about choices. We can't have it all. Having $33M, $20M, $17M and $15M starting pitchers mean you have to cut corners elsewhere. Had everything gone according to the plan, we would be contemplating whether or not to grant Pablo Sandoval the option year in 2020. Well that didn't work out. For me, sometimes you just live with a 22 year old going through ups and downs. Devers came up with some big hits in the playoffs. I wished we had the bullpen Yankees have, but you know, about the choices Sox made, regarding where to spend the money. I'm enjoying the prospect of seeing someone such as Hernandez. Lakins and Feltman pitch for us in 2019. it's very possible they all fall flat on their faces. We've discussed Devers' shortcomings as a defender all last year. I'm not sure what do about it. Cut him?

Hey, I guess we should have signed Machado. Bunch of whinny asses on this board. Not enough that our payroll is $243M. We want PROVEN all stars at each position.

Let's look at Yankees payroll for a minute. I think we've discussed Sox payroll at nauseam. Cot's has the Yankees at $225M right now, $19M over the initial threashhold. This amount will be taxed at 20%. Didi Gregorius is making $11.75M this year and will become a FA. CC Sabathia has announce his retirement at the conclusion of current season. He is set to make $8M. Brett Gardner is on a one year deal at $7.5M. I guess the hope is to let him go and replace him with last year contract of Jacoby, who is set to make $21.143M in 2020. That's total savings of $27.25M, bringing down the CB Payroll to about $198M. Luxury tax will be $208M for 2020. They will need to replace Gregorius. They will lose a starter in Sabathia. I'm not sure if you can count on Ellsbury. James Paxton will be in his final year of arbitration. He's currently making $8.575M. Both Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez will be 1st year arb players in 2020. Judge could break Betts record $20M in 2021. Signing a big ticketed FA in 2020 may become problematic with some of their younger players becoming arb eligible in 2020 and beyond. They are in better shape than Sox but they're just couple of years behind what we're gong through. If we have a 'cliff', they they'll have theirs two to three years later.