Nick

Strictly speaking from business standpoint, any doubt we did the right thing with Hanley? His $22M would have been painful in 2019. His salary takes care of Pearce, Moreland and Nunez with some money leftover.

Only 5 teams have players with AAV of $20M plus. Angels Trout, Pujols, Upton $70M Cubs Lester, Heyward, Darvish $70M Nationals Scherzer, Strasburg, Corbin $78M Red Sox Price, JD, Porcello $73.6M Yankees Stanton, Tanaka, Jacoby $69M Stanton's contract runs for another 9 years! It's just hard for me to think they would give out a 10 year deal to Machado. That just seems insane. Only 5 players have AAV over $30M. Will it be 7 after Harper/Machado signings? Red Sox may lose 2 to FA next winter. Anything can happen with injuries and such, but we're down to 4 years left with Price.

Price had one opt out and he declined. He's a Sox for next 4 years. His 4 years will run concurrently with Eovaldi's. E Rod has 3 years of arbitration remaining so he's under team control for next 3 years.

DD is that trophy wife. She'll spend money sure but what ever she buys will be 'chic'.

I can just hear the Yankee brain trust telling each other "had it not for that 4 game sweep", we'd won the division and probably the world series.". Now that would be sweet. We won despite wobbly performance from Kimbrel and less than average output from Betts and JD Martinez. Now think about THAT.

I completely understand where you are coming from. It's risky to give out 6 year contract to a closer. Period.

I suggested the home team discount. Perhaps what needs to happen is to implement penalties for teams not spending minimum CB payroll. Make the 'floor' relative to the 'ceiling' as it exists. Say the gap should be $100M. So for 2019, each team must spend at least $108M. For 2018, 5 teams had payroll of less than $100M.

Bigger question is is it better for baseball not to give Boston opportunity to sign say Kimbrel without heavily penalizing the team? What about from players' perspective? I have a pretty good idea where Borass thinks. What the owners have done is to artificially create a barrier to impede payroll implosion. No doubt that the players union will take a hard stance against some of these penalties in next CBA. THIS IS WHERE I SUGGEST THERE SHOULD BE A DISCOUNT FOR HOMEGROWN TALENT. Allow a home team to give whatever contract they want to a home grown talent without facing extreme penalty. Idea is to come up with a maxium amount charged against CB Payroll for player such as Betts. $25M seems to be the right amount for now. Thus, each player will have a desinated 'home' team. This is one time designation and can not be changed. Whatever team the player is playing for under which he becomes eligible for Rookie of the Year consideration will be his HOME team. Betts, Beni, Devers all would have Boston Red Sox as the home team. Under this scenario, Sox can sign Betts to $35M AAV with $25M artifical payroll when computing the luxury tax penalty. It's a win win for all. I think it's a brilliant idea. (lol)

The answer is no. Kimbrel will want 4 years at minimum and we can't tie up $15M+ for a closer who appears to be on decline.

Very good point, Moon. Eovaldi is signed for 4 years with NO OPT out. I have not read his contract and therefore I am not aware of performance bonuses. And also keep in mind that his AAV and cash outlay is the same. What I'm getting at is this. I get it that he wants to start. However, I feel comfortable in saying that he will close if he's asked. What the hell does it matter financially either way, start or close?. He's paid the same amount. He's at least three years away from free agency at the close of 2019 season. He has plenty of time to build up "starter money"over the remaining three years of his contract. I doubt it will come to this. I think DD will sign a closer. But Eovaldi will be asked to close if everything falls apart in first half of 2019. And if he does close, it will only be until summer trade deadline when DD will trade for a closer. Who knows, hell it may be Price who will be asked to close in an emergency. For some guys on this team, (I'm thinking someone like Pedroia), winning is all that matters. I put Eovaldi and Price in that same category. They all have long term contracts. They're playing to win. Not that Porcello and Sale won't give 100%, they are pitching for next contract. This is their last year.

Let's see what we have in Barnes and Brasier. 'Save' stat is overrated. There are too many gratuitous saves given out.

Did you go Sox or Rays for Xmas?

All positives.....This is a good team on paper that's done it before where it counts, on the field. Last year at this time, we had Hanley. He was replaced by JD Martinez. We had Pom. Now we have Eovaldi. We had no partner for Moreland. Now we have full year of Pearce. We wanted to know if Betts would come back from his pedestrian performance from 2017. He answered with a MVP season. JBJ is slowing rounding into all around professional. Devers made his sophomore adjustments. Sure it was painful at times but he survived. Beni overcame his sophomore year from 2017 and came back strong. Price bounced back. In my mind his contract has been well worth it. 3 division titles and a world series ring in his three years. E Rod looked stellar while he was healthy. I'm just not concerned with this team. DD will do something about the pen before it's all said and done. It's only day before Christmas Eve.

Tulowitzki played 131 games his first full year with Toronto with OPS of arund .760. Then in 2017 he only played in 66 games. I believe he was out all last year. It's been a horrible contract for Toronto. And they're still on the hooks for two more years. Ouch. I get it that he wants to start but he's got some nerve based on his track record. I would think he'd just want to be on a contender (Red Sox). Only f***ing reason anyone is looking at him is because someone else is paying his tab. Self absorbed much?

E Rod needs to stay healthy. He's never pitched 140 innings in his 4 years (granted yr 1 was abbreviated via late start). But the ceiling in high if everyone stays healthy. I'm excited for Pearce having a full year with the Sox. No more talk of not playing Devers. Our payroll is OVER $40M over the luxury tax limit. We need to live with Devers at 3B. Don't forget the clutch hits he delivered during playoffs.

And don't forget we still have the highest payroll for a DFA'd player.

I said Castillo's $11M would cost the Sox additional $9.3M in 2019 assuming his entire $11M sits above the $40M tier. $11M x .30 = $3.300M $11M x .12 = $1.320M $11M x .425= $4.675M It adds up to $9.295M . Any questions?

I don't think we have to be critical but we can point out bad contracts. Here's the story behind Castillo signing. Red Sox came in second for Abreu. I think we missed by few million dollars. We were determined not to come in second the following year when Castillo became available. You can't blame our GM for trying. It just hasn't worked out. Each year it seems all teams fall into 'group think' mode. Kansas City winning it all brought in the strong pen over starters theory. This year it seems to me all teams are looking for closer types that can pitch multiple innings.

You are missing the 12% secondary penalty.

My bad, my number is off. But the point I wanted to make was he's going to make the same amount of money in 2020 as he will in 2019. I would definitely opt out after 2020 but no so sure about after next year.

2019 Starting Freakin' Rotation! Sale, Price, Porcello, Eovaldi, E Rod Could this be the best rotation ever in Fenway?

Is it really given that JD Martinez will opt out after 2019? His contract still calls for $25M payout in 2020. Why not wait until after 2020? I like for Moon to pitch in here but I believe JD's decision after 2019 maybe the biggest factor as to when the Sox re-sets. If he sticks around for 2020, we can then go for three peat, then re-set. Our penalty can raise as high as $30M for 2020 but it would be worth it.

DD's Red American Express card is maxed out. He'll have to pay down the debt before he can buy more players.

Best loss ever? Jacoby Ellsbury.....Yankees are stuck with him for another 2 years.

Castillo's $11M would cost the Sox additional $9.3M in 2019 assuming his entire $11M sits above the $40M tier. Now that would be stupid.