Nick

As long as it's not Pom.

There were tons of conversation about JBJ prior to opening day. My thought is don't create a problem where there is none. Stick JBJ out there and let him do his thing. Catching is another area we shouldn't worry about. Sandy is outstanding defensive catcher. I believe Vazquez is too. Now we're adding Swihart to the mix. We're solid. Biggest issue for this team right now is inconsistency of the pen. Relievers can be fickle. Good one month, no so good the next month. It's now all about getting ready for the playoffs.

Brasier has been most consistent (without looking at any stats) in the pen.

Getting Chris Sale pushed everyone else in the starting rotation one rung down. FACT Getting JD Martinez pushed everyone else in the lineup on rung down. FACT (we can argue about Betts/JD, former#2 is now #3, etc) And who the f**k doesn't enjoy watching JD Martinez play every day?

Better to Know than Not to Know.... I really hope we get to see some of our organizational depth in September....I'm all for turning over every rock and seeing what's under it. Not all at once of course. Spread it out.

JBJ gives us so much defense that we need patience on offensive end. Question going forward is has he truly fixed his swing? Or will he always regress to hitting in .180's. Luckily we have enough offense to carry him.

Sox 97 wins NYY 93 wins.... Moon you posted this predication back in March 2, 10:33 pm.

He also owns a 0.20 ERA in his last seven starts, which is the lowest ERA over a seven-game stretch by a Red Sox starter since earned runs became an official stat in 1913. Over his last 44 innings, Sale has allowed one run while striking out 79 and walking six batters. Chris Freakin' Sale!

If not that post, some other posts.

I had us at 93.

Any thoughts on which players will see major league action on September 1? Which players would you like to see?

I'm not upset and I really don't care but Brock Holt is 15 for last 84 at bats since July 1.

This team just needs to get everyone healthy, including E Rod. It's really a deep team with additions of Kinsler and Pearce. C Sandy, Swihart 1B Moreland, Pearce 2B Kinsler, Holt SS Xander 3B Devers, Nunez DH JD OF Betts, JBJ, Beni SP Sale, Price, Porcello, Eovaldi, E Rod CL Kimbrel RP Barnes, Brasier, Kelly, Thornburg, Hembree, Johnson, Pom, Velazquez Two relievers will need to drop off if we go with 12 pitcher. A starter will be moved to bullpen. I don't want us chasing record books. The team needs to rest its players as it has all year. Set up the pitching rotation for the playoffs. We do want home field advantage throughout the playoffs though. We're different hitting team at home.

"Which is why you cannot make this the norm. Which, in turn, is why you need a strong farm system." No worries Kimmi....all of our top 10 prospect guys are either hurt or suspended. Our farm is in tact.

I'm thinking no way we re-sign Porcello in two years. We need his $20M elsewhere. Then he does this!

Despite all the setbacks and injuries, this team has been unbelievable and fun to watch. It has not been all smooth sailing either. Frustrations with Pom, Wright, E Rod getting hurt on a play at first, Pedey out for the year, ups and downs in bullpen, Vaz out, Devers in and out, Xander trying to stay 100% healthy, etc. But the team is resilient. They pretty much beat up on teams that they should. Comforting to know that we come out of this 4-game series with no worse than where we started. We have a chance to stretch the lead if we can win one of remaining games. I'm not sure if Yankee fans counted on some of THEIR guys getting hurt, either. It's a good team but they need their starters as much as we do ours. With Sale, Kimbrel, Betts and JD anchoring the team, I just don't see us going on prolong losing streaks.

Is Lester really having a better season than Price? I don't know how to adjust for NL/AL differences. Their WHIP and AVG looked pretty comparable.

I still see another move....set up guy.

According to Cot's Baseball Contracts, we're now over the second threashhold by $354K, thus dropping our draft position ten spots lower. As I said previously, I don't believe it's a big deal when you finish the year with the best record. Monetary penalty of additional 42.5% on $354K is peanuts. Basically every contract we acquire going forward is going to cost us 1.425 times the amount of the traded player contract assumed.

Maybe that's what I WANTED to hear...lol:cool:

Ultimately we needed a piece to replace Hanley. Pearce was a good get. I give credit to many here that made a case for getting rid of Hanley 'too early' without a replacement. Fortunately for management Pearce is working out well. Brassier looks solid. I also thought Maddox (?) looked solid last year. I guess he's hurt. Just never know about relievers. As Kimmi has stated often other than a closer, we don't need to overspend on bullpen guys. You simply have more options there than starters. Perhaps Thornburg will step in while Kelly figures things out. I don't think Pedey will ever be 100% player. He's going to need rest more and more. I see him playing 100 games, max. He'll get hurt. Whatever age he is, he's old. He's abused his body on the field and it's caught up with him. He's not a great athlete (think track and field 'athlete').

Arbitration eligible for 2019 M Betts $10.500 M 2 of 3 X Bogaerts $ 7.050 M 3 of 3 J Bradley Jr $ 6.100 M 3 of 4 E Rod $ 2.375 M 2 of 3 B Holt $ 2.225 M 3 of 3 Thornburg $ 2.050 M 3 of 3 S Leon $ 1.950 M 3 of 4 S Wright $ 1.100 M 2 of 3 C Smith $ 0.850 M 2 of 3 M Barnes $ 0.605 M 1 of 3 H Hembree $ 0.582 M 1 of 3 B Swihart $ 0.564 M 1 of 4 B Workman $ 0.564 M Moon I have no idea how to project these out for 2019. Obviously we're not done with 2018. Probably significant raises for Betts, Xander, JBJ and E Rod. Say, max increase of $30M for above contracts (that's about 100% increase.). Hanley and Pom's salaries would take care of it. $7M more for Kimbrel (put him at $20M per year) should be the max. Not sure if we have enough money to cover Eovaldi. I think we take the bullet and go over the max line. Just not concerned about losing 10 spots when you're drafting 30th. You are not going to get Benintendi's of the world when you're winning the division. As far as replacing Kelly? Right now that's really not my concern with the way he's pitching. Brasier is out performing him.

True but.... 1) He's got the stuff (I doubt his fasball is going to take a major dip at his age) 2) I always look for walk ratio. E Rod is still frustrating for me due to his pitch count issues. 3) I don't see his stuff being less than say Porcello's and we're paying him $20M. 4) He looks to be more of DD type of pitcher. A hard thrower. Sox management has done a good job assembling 'team' guys. You hear it all the time now. "Good organization to play for." From WEEi Eovaldi's velocity was impressive, with his fastball averaging 97.4 mph and maxing out at 98.9 mph. He pitch-mix was as follows: 32 cutters, 28 fastballs, 10 sliders, seven curveballs and four split-fingered fastballs. He managed first-pitch strikes on 18 of his 24 batters.

Actually it is that simple.... I rather take a chance on Eovaldi than Pom. Because of his health issues in the past, he probably won't be that expensive. We still have Sale, Price, Porcello, E Rod, Wright, Johnson and Hector. We're looking for a fifth starter. I'd be surprised if Eovaldi costs more than $10M/ year. Eovaldi could potentially replace Porcello and his $20M the following year. Kimbrel is already at $13M. His incremental annual cost should not be difficult to meet. Problem maybe the LENGTH of the contract that DD is willing to pay. I doubt seriously DD will let Kimbrel go elsewhere. Again it's stupid to have Sale, Price, E Rod etc without a shutdown closer. Kimbrel, Thornburg, Barnes, Hembree, Johnson, Hector, Wright, Workman, C Smith (2nd Half?) and not to mention plethora of relief pitchers in our minors should fill up the pen. Should the Sox just say f*** it and trade for Andre Beltre and a set up guy?

How can a guy even take a batting practice? Did u ever watch the Japanese gymnast with broken a leg on the ring waiting for final dismount? It's going to hurt if he comes back too early.