Nick

Yep..I've always liked Lin. Give the kid a shot and hopefully Pedroia will return for the final stretch.

One final word on Devers... We complain a lot about lack of development at the farm (sure starting pitching more so than position players). When a kid such as Devers come along management has to give him a long leash. At one point, rightfully or wrongfully, Sox decided Travis Shaw was NOT our future 3B nor 1B. Moon had great analysis on Shaw before the trade. I areed with him Moncada was given a quick look, long enough to convince DD that Devers was better AT 3B. (unknown to us). Moncada was blocked at 2B by Pedey. A big piece was needed to acquire Sale and there you go. We can all see that Devers is talented. He also has physical skills to be a pretty good 3B. Experience, playing time is needed. We have given mile long rope to JBJ. We can be patient with Devers. We have 5 Freakin' years of control after this year. Be happy.

He's here just wanting to feel good about himself. I want to argue with my fellow Sox fans. We are family. He's an outsider butting into our dinner conversation. Nice to have him on holidays but not every Sunday.

There is not a single major league team that would take on Pedey's contract. We couldn't give him away. Name a team that's dumb enough to take on his contract.

We need a set up man.

I'm not worried about Devers. He simply needs to play. I'm more concerned with injury/ineffectivenss of Pom, JBJ offensively, Pedey getting 100% and Thornburg finally making contribution for the Sox. Of all the problems, Devers is not a concern. He needs to be given opportunity to play. He's 21. What are we going to do? Invest money in some has been? Or block Devers completely? Playing in AAA does Devers absolutely NOTHING.

It's all about missed opportunities. Betts has no interest other than to become a free agent. I'm saying that you offer him what you are going to pay Harper. If he's not interested than trade him. You LOCK up players you want for future. I want Betts. I want Sale. I would do to Sale what Sox did with Porcello. Give him a contract that he can't refuse. You sign it April of 2019 to take effect 2020. No effect on AAV for 2019 season and no luxury tax implication for 2019. But if Betts refuse Harper money, then you move on. NOTHING f***ING DELUSIONAL. Target your best players and pay them what they are worth. DON'T f***ING LESTER BETTS. Pay him whatever he wants. THAT'S MY POINT.

If you are DD, you're just going to sit on your ass and 'hope' Betts sign? No back up plan? What if he just wants out? No one can convince me Betts is much BETTER than Harper. You have two free agents this winter that are young and have productive years in front of them. Machado is better value at ss than Xander. DD is the type that thinks big. I'll go forward with core group of Harper, Machado, Martinez, Beni and Devers.

Moon, you're numbers guy.... We have two years of Betts, no gurantee of re-signing him in two years. What can we get in trade for Betts after we win the world series this year? Luxury tax limit goes up to $206M for 2019. Based on this year's budget, then our ceiling is $246M. I'm assuming Sox is willing to extend Betts at any price, but he's not interested. KEEP THAT IN MIND. Here we go. Tade Porcello, Xander, Bradley and Betts. Surely we're able to get one or two young, cost controlled, starting pitchers. One should be major league ready. Porcello $20.625 M Hanley $22.000 M (option not vested) Xander $7.050 M Bradley $6.100 M Kelly $3.825 M (FA) Betts $10.500 M Pom $ 8.500 M (FA) total $78.600 M With starting AAV of $235,325,600, we rid of $78,600,00 and get down to $156,725,600. With a budget of $246M, we have available $89,274,400. Note that we have rid of high priced arbitration players. Arbitration raises will not be a big issue in 2019 after the trades. Sign Machado and Harper at $33M AAV, you can front load it but have an opt out after 5 years (they are still young, make the first 5 years at $35M). Re-sign Kimbrel at $18M or $5M pay increase. Total FA signing is thus $71M and leaving the Sox with $18M for arbitration increase. With no other signings, we still have cushion to sign perhaps another bat on the cheap. Our line up would look like this. Beni, Harper, Machado, JD, Moreland, Pedroia, Devers, Vazquz, Nunez or DH signing. Compare it to Beni, Betts, Xander, JD, Moreland, Pedroia, Devers, Vazques and JBJ. Less defense but overall more power. The beauty is we don't have to worry about losing Xander and Betts and getting nothing in return. In essence, we are paying Harper what we would have paid Betts but now we get something in return. Someone would love to have Betts for two years, I bet. We should get a young starter in return, at minimum. Pitching staff? We'll still have Price, Sale and E Rod. We should get a fourth starter in Betts trade and we have Wright and others for 5th spot. This rotation is serviceable. We can then sign Sale in 2020 using the $18M in relief we get from Pablo's contract. We still have Kimbrel and our bullpen I think will be fine. This is being pro active and money works. There will be new CBA by 2023 and luxury tax will again go up. It really is a perfect time to extend our championship. window. I would pay to go watch Harper, Machado, JD, Devers and Beni. What's the down side?

I just don't think we'll be in as bad shape as you think. Big thing is we have $$$$. 2020 Price, E Rod, Wright, Mookie, JBJ, Beni, JD, Devers, Pedroia, Vaz, Smith, Barnes, Hembree, Maddox, Johnson and Velaz. Basically we have $71M committed. Wright, Mookie, JBJ in their last arbitration years. Say a payroll budget of $240M, we have $170M to cover arbitration players plus acquisitions. OF of Beni, JBJ and Betts should be one of the best. JD will be DH (we will give him a new contract before he gets away) We'll need a SS and 1B. Bottom line is we will always have enough money to field a competitive team. I'm just not as pessimistic as many of you. Obviously we can't be Pabloed with completely worthless production.

Thanks.....I completely forgot. He was one of three high pitching prospects for the Sox three or four years ago.

100% correct Also 1 I go back and forth but ultimately Sox did the right thing with Hanley. Several here always complain about fiscal responsibility yet they still complain when we shed $22M off of our payroll. Hanley's days were numbered when Sox signed both Moreland and JD Martinez. How about that albatross of $18M still on the books for Pablo in 2019? Those two contracts might be the worst singings consummated at the same time. 2 I'm a strong believer in knowing the bad news immediately. Through injuries and whatever, Swihart to me has never had a fair amount of opportunity. It's time to find out what his future is with the Sox. I wanted Moncada brought up sooner rather than later. I also wanted to see Devers in Sox uniform sooner than later. I'm convinced that after watching Moncada, DD decided Devers was just as good. Moncada and Kopech brought us Sale. 3 It's great to see Jalen Beeks get a spot start tomorrow. When was the last time Sox had a drafted rookie take the mound? It's freaking time to find out what some of these kids got. It may even save us $8M and $20M next year. 4. I was 100% behind singing of Moreland. Not because he's doing well. I had no idea how he would perform this year. But, at the very least, DD brought back the entire starting position players back for 2018. That's what good business owners do. Establish baseline. With that accomplished, DD was able to play chess or checkers with JD's agent. Agent was check mated at the end. Yeah DD probably overpaid for Moreland. So what? It was more important to have the starting lineup set, then go after JD to improve the team rather than holding your genital for a bargain that may never come. 5 I love this team and I love how the management is running the baseball operation. I also love the change in managers. This team needed a different voice.

You have a point.

Can we talk about more fun stuff? How are we going to sign Machado to $33M 12 year deal? Don't tell Kimmi. Trade always fading Xander $ 7.0 M (he's only got year left) Kiss Pom and his bicep good bye $ 8.5 M (replaced with Wright) Increase in cap $ 9.0 M Hanley's option dismissed $ 22.0 M Trade Porcello $ 20.6 M (He sucks every other year, get ahead of the curve)...Hector's ready to go. Total $ 66.1 M That's enough money to sign Machado, Kimbrel and pay arb raises. Chicks still dig long balls.

lol....check mate. I will bet anyone million that there was an article about sox coming in second, behind the White Sox. I'm not betting it's true, but there was an article. Just because a guy on this board hasn't seen it doesn't make it didn't happen.

I haven't compared missed games/starts by starters for both the Sox and the Yankees. It's just a grind. Gutsy performance to win the last two at Houston. It could have gone really south for us. I'm staying positive.

I'm glad you were there to witness the comeback and the homer. We've done amazingly well to this point. Injuries are all part of the game. Not having Betts is huge. I would not be too concerned about Pedey if I thought Nunez was 100%. He just doesn't seem the same to me. One wrong step or turn and he looks to be injured. We still have tons of upside. None of our starters are really in their groove. JBJ maybe breaking out. If he could just hit .250. We just need to leave Devers alone. Hit him 8th if we have to. It's probably still too early to give up on Pom. It's encouraging to see Wright pitch well. Thank God for JD Martinez.

Cora has said that Swihart will get a start behind the plate next week. He can be a valuable bench player at the very least by playing LF, 3B, 1B and catching.

I was just tired of talking about the past. Good or bad, this is our team. Despite objections on this board by some, it sure is fun to watch JD Martinez along with dormant bats come alive as we suspected from Betts and Xander. (2017 compared to 2016). I'm guessing you think there's no way we re-sign Pom? Won't we need Hanley's $22M and Pom's $9M to cover raises for Betts, Xander, JBJ and to re-sign Kimbrel and maybe Kelly? As well as Kelly is pitching, I'm not sure if we have enough money to sign him. I've been a Kelly basher for long time. He's finally mixing up pitches to go with his 100mph straight ball. He's become a pitcher and not just a thrower. Barnes on the other hand.......well he's cheap and he's young. Sale Price E Rod Porcello Wright Some young guys need to step up and provide depth. It's about managing payroll and you do that as well as anyone here on the board. You see the big picture. All of our position guys will come back for 2019. And only Xander and Moreland will be FA in 2020.

but you are missing the big picture guys we have versus guys we gave up....are we as good over the last 3 years without the trades? No question we traded future for winning now. Do you think sox nation would have been happy with mediocre teams on the heels of two last place finishes or three out four? Let it go, moon. Are you unhappy with the team we have today?

Apparently DD has done somethings right. He's no Theo or Ben though.

I respect Moon but I always hate him sitting on the fence. Moon Which trade would you undue?

Hanley Ramirez (.708 OPS) not producing as Boston Red Sox's No. 3 hitter, Alex Cora should consider lineup change per MassLive We don't OWE Hanley anything. Let the performance dictate their playing time. It appears to me both Beni and Hanley should be platooned.

I can dream Of course that's after Sox winning the World Series I guess you missed this part......

I'd love to see Machado in our lineup. Price opts outs ($31M), Hanley does not vest ($22M), trade Xander ($7.05M), trade Moreland ($6.5M), let Pom's contract expire ($8.5M), trade JBJ ($6.1M), let Kelly go ($3.825M), trade Holt ($2.225M). Total Savings $87.2M. Trade for Votto ($22.5M), sign Machado and Harper ($66M), sign Kimbrel (additional cost of $5M), total $93.5M. Pablo's $19M will come into play after 2019. Votto decides he wants to play for a winner. Votto for Beni and Moreland (1 year left on contract). Line Up Betts CF Votto 1B JD Martinez LF Harper RF Machado SS Devers 3B Pedroia 2B Vazquez C ?????? DH Rotate, use Nunez and others to sub in position wise I can dream Of course that's after Sox winning the World Series