Nick

Under team control for another six years.....yeah baby!

the clown!

Well I only got one thing to say http:///www.youtube.com/watch?v=82zY9oAIu7A

Okay, Professor, let's play a game of chess. Assuming current $233M CB Payroll is acceptable, or let's get right up to the second tier threashhold of $237M. Say $39M over luxury tax limit. Hanley's $22M will take care of arbitration raises. We have Kimbrel's $13M, Pom's $8.5M and Kelly's $3.8M. Throw in another $9M for increase in luxury tax limit to $206M. That's another $34M. Let's hold out $4M for increase in contracts for current players, Vaz, Sale, etc. Basically, we have $30M to reload. How about signing Machado and moving Devers to 1B? Machado signing would hedge against losing out on Xander the following year. I'll take a chance on Brasier or whoever is closing with additional bat of Machado. After 2019 season, Porcello, Xander, and Sale will become FA. Incremental cost to sign these guys will be less than their final contracts. Porcello is already making $20.6M. How much more can he garner in open market? I'd say he'd be lucky to match his current salary when he becomes FA. Sale will be up to $13M or so for 2019. Say we give him $30M, the delta is only $17M. If we don't re-sign Porcello, over half of Sale's $30M contract comes out of Porcello's. I doubt anyone will give Xander more than $25M. So his delta is perhaps $10-15M, easily covered by Pablo's contract going forward. Moreland's contract will also expire so there's additional money there. We may have to trade away JBJ's money in order to cover the additional cost of signing Betts. In summary, Let Kimbrel walk. Sign Eovaldi as hedge against both Porcello and Sale leaving year later. Fill the pen with Barnes, Brasier, etc. Take a chance on internal candidates in 2019 and then sign a closer at trade deadline if needed. Let Porcello walk when his contract expires, re-sign Sale. Re-Sign Xander. Trade Bradley and re-sign Betts.

Your argument is little weak. Price and Sale would be on the roster TOGETHER for another three years, 2020, 2021 and 2022. Not sure if we can afford it. Starters, controlled through Price 2019 2020 2021 2022 E Rod 2019 2020 2021 Wright 2019 2020 Sale 2019 Porcello 2019 Better way to say is that Porcello's $20.6M will go towards Sale. But where does Xander's money come from? What about Betts the following year?

I think having the home field advantage is huge, especially playing the first two games at home. I think we're better at home.

Thanks Moon for the infor. $20M is lower than I thought. Good news. So $233M (today per Cot) less Hanley, Kimbrel, Kelly and Pom ($48M) = $185M plus $20M arbitration raises = $205M. $228M is second threashhold, so we have about $23M for bullpen/starter depth. Wright replaces Pom. Johnson and Hector as depth piece. (yes, I'm ignoring slight bump for contract increases for couple of players) Also another 'plus' is that by the time Betts become FA, I bet $25M will already be 'baked in' in the CB Payroll fiugure. That means the delta to aqcuire him will only be around $8-$10M, not $33M if that makes sense.

It can be easily done by not signing Kimbrel, Kelly and Pom (combined $26M), and trading away Porcello ($20.6M) and Moreland ($6.5M), With Hanley gone, that's total savings of $77M. That puts us at $156M, $52M below CB tax threashhold of $208M. $52M to replace a starter and closer and covering what could be $20-25M in arbitration raises. Again, it's doable.

I was at a bar watching the game. Most patrons agree to let Sale pitch the 9th ONLY because he already pitched the 8th. It would have limited his innings for Game 5 BUT WHAT THE HELL, I FEEL MORE COMFORATABLE WITH AN ACE THAT ALREADY PITCHED ONE INNING, KNOWING HE WAS ALREADY THROWING STRIKES versus a closer that has had control issues all year. I don't have problems with pitchers getting hit but I have big problems with pitchers that can't find the strike zone.

For penny pinching teams, why not use a starter for one inning in relief as their 'bullpen' session? 20-25 pitches max. Hell, maybe even just to get one batter out.

Yankees are in better 'financial' position than the Sox in terms of luxury tax implications. Yankees only have one bad contract, that of Jacoby Ellsbury, $22M AAV for two more years. They have the cap space to acquire mutliple free agents, if they want. They have a deep and cost controlled young talent. But do keep in mind, sometimes young talent fizzles out. Sox will need to thread the needle after 2019 in terms of not letting payroll get out of control and being selective about free agent signing of its own players. But as long as DD is getting 'value' from the players he signs, we'll be okay. Just no more Sandoval contracts please. Pom is gone and I doubt we'll give $18-$20M four/five year deal to Kimbrel. Hanley's $22M comes off the books. We really could do a MINI re-set AFTER we win the world series by 1) letting Kimbrel, Kelly, Pom contracts expire and 2) Hanley's $22M coming off the books. That amounts to about $48M plus we get a bump of $9M in artificial cap space. Cot has Sox at CB Payroll of $233M. Subtract $48M and we're at $185M before arbitration raises and having to replace basically Kimbrel/Kelly. 2019 CB threashold will be $208M, second and third threasholds at $228M and $248M. Looking at second penalty level of $228M, Sox has about $43M to cover arb raises and replace Kimbrel/Kelly/Pom. It's doable.

And someone suggested Holt not be on the team back in spring training.....oops, that was ME.

Delta at catching spot between highest and the lowest rated player is not as great as delta at 3B position as an example.

3B position was not as productive as I'd hoped but you have to let Devers play. Need some youth and cheap options on your 25 man squad. Our starting pitching appears fragile from health standpoint. Last year it was Price, this year it's Sale and E Rod.

Red Sox 32 29 26 23 12 11 Guardians 31 31 29 26 18 12 Astros 33 32 31 29 22 5 Yankees 31 28 26 23 13 10 Oakland 27 20 16 16 15 11 # of starts by AL playoff teams. Advantage Houston?

It's stupid I know but we just score more runs than opposing team night after night. When pitching sucks, we outfit the other team. When we don't hit, we pitch even better.

Right. We'll spend $200M+ going forward. No reason we're not competing for playoff spot.

We decided Shaw was not the long term solution at 3B when we traded him.

Real Magic # is 4. With each win or Houston loss totaling 4, we'll have the home field advantage throughout.

We have Sale for another year at $13.5 (club option)

I think we need to take chance in couple of areas. Shore up the team at trade deadline. Let all FA go this year if we win it all.

Thank you for that. Moon thinks Dalbec is old?

Is Brasier good enough to be a closer?

If that's the case we better quit drafting college kids. Aren't they 21 usually when drafted after junior year? How many position players jump right into majors? Case can be made it's better because at 28 they may still be under team control.