Nick

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.

We have the best OF with Betts, JBJ and Beni. Throw in JD as the 4th OF and it's a solid unit. This team has been truly amazing. I'm surprised when we lose. Thornburg pitching better of late is very encouraging news.

Hanley $22M, Pom $8.5M, Kelly $3.825M, 9M increase in luxury tax......that should be enough to sign Kimbrel, Eovaldi and take care of arbitration increases. I like Eovaldi's stuff. Plus he'll balance out lefty/righty combo.

yep, back end reliever is more critical than 2B on this team.

I think I read somewhere Yankees are 11-11 vs Rays and Orioles, Sox maybe something like 17-6? Point being it is simply too difficult to project out how we'll do simply looking at the schedule. I always think we're much better than A's and the Twins but my gut say we've struggled against those two teams. I think Twins handle Sale better than anyone else. Just going off my fading memory. Rays play Yankees tough. By the way, nice pick up by Red Sox today. That ought to make Yankee fans pucker.

It's time to address Joe Kelly issue. April/May, 25 2/3 innings, 10 hits, 6 walks, 1 run. June/July, 15 1/3 innings, 19 hits, 13 walks, 18 runs. His ERA is now 4.79, awful for a reliever. He needs to go on DL.

Obviously it's still too early to assess trades made by DD exchanging youth for established veterans but my sense is we did not give up as much as many here think. I'll get back to you on DD era 'trading the future away' mantra.

DD is fortunate that Moreland has performed well, prior and post departure of Hanley. He has also diffused the Hanley DFA situation with Pearce addition. He has been a solid addition. We can play all three (JD, Pearce and Moreland) and rest JBJ. We have rid of $15.5M in 2019 ($22M less $6.5M for Morelnad) without missing a beat.

That I agree with. But some are suggesting we sign 8-9 'quality' pitchers. Quality pitchers don't want to waste a year hoping for injury.

Yes, it's true that you can't ever have enough pitching. Yes, it's true that you want as many quality starting pitchers. But the Board is very naive to think that there are veteran pitchers out there that want to sign up with Red Sox in spring hoping for an injury to get an opportunity to pitch. What planet do you live in?

Pretty funny

What's changed for Mookie this year? Is it the JD Martinez factor? New approach? .362 is just sick. Despite missing several games, he's 2nd in majors in runs scored. He has more runs than games played. Who was the ******* that suggested Harper was almost as good? Never mind, that was me.

Where I was going was do our 1st two or three picks have any trade value today? What level player can we get for them? A mediocre reliever? A journeyman 2B? Or does that create too much negativity for future draftees?

Didn't know....thanks

Just when E Rod seems to be coming around in terms of being efficient, this s*** happens. He can't catch a break. I had him moving up to #2 spot ahead of Porcello and Price. Ugh, ugh, ugh. Houston made a brilliant move last year acquiring J Verlander. One can always dream....

Too lazy to look it up.... Q for the board....how long do we have to retain a draftee before we can trade them? A year?

Pretty funny Moon.....good point though