Nick

Sale was a good get. He gives eight position players and a DH chance to win every time he pitches. With others, you have your fingers crossed.

"After that, Brad Miller hit a fly ball to left-center field, and Andrew Benintendi drifted out towards the ball. Except, he couldn’t make the play. It’s hard to be sure, but he looked like he both took a bad route to the ball and then wasn’t sure where the wall was. Whatever the reason, it should’ve been caught and was a play in which the Red Sox missed Jackie Bradley." Per Matt Collins Beni is no Bradley Jr in CF for sure.

It's called "false hustle" and Hanley does it all the time. He's the dumbest base runner I've ever seen. The ball was already in infield. Man's got to know his limits, he doesn't. Stay put at 2B, extend the inning for next hitter. We're not paying him $20M to be a base runner. Now he will be out for few days. But your are right, what's $20M got to do with anything? Maybe he can help the team by working on his shoulder so he can play some 1B.

We got guys that get hurt going from 1st to 2nd base....$20M and we can't run the bases....

It's f***ing time to switch Xander and Beni in the line up. Xander's average is now close to .400 while Beni is hitting below .250. I say this only because Moreland has 9 doubles and a home run BUT only 2 RBIs. Got a ride the hot streak. Beni's not getting on base from 2 hole. Don't be f***ing stubborn. Make some changes.

It's good thing we have Sale. He's a stud.

Pedey's AAV of $13.75M looks reasonable. If we win couple of world series I can see him retiring. When his body wears out, I think he's gone. Price is a different story. $31M will look bigger each year. Scary thing is Sale, Porcello, Xander and Bradley all become FA at the same time, Betts the following year.

I'm just poking fun at Orioles manager.....who is always needling us.

I'm just having fun with you.....no malice intended. We actually all care about the future of our franchise.

If Wright recovers and our 3-5 pitches reasonably well, I wonder if we can use Johnson out of the pen and just get rid of Abad. Can he be the long reliever for us?

I saw pigs flying when I came back from lunch.

Why that's the highest compliment you can give DD....he appreciates it.

I agree......It's really unrealistic to think you can develop entire starting unit through the draft. It's a fact that more prospects fail than succeed. Sometimes it's best to trade away a prospect when he's 'hot'. Our opportunity to trade away Owens and Johnson for some value in return has come and gone. It remains to be seen how Espinoza turns out. Your farm system is at the mercy of major league ball club. You develop a player to fill a need on the big league club. You develop a player to trade for a player that fills a need on the big league club. You develop a player and trade for a younger player because his position is blocked on the big league club. Assuming our injured pitchers all return, our biggest concern seems to be at 3B.

Very good....giving you a tennis clap...

I'm also becoming less and less enamored with Brock Holt. There's a big difference between being able to fill in at multiple positions versus playing it well. I just don't like him as a baseball player.

Question If a player misses say 60+ days during arbitration years, is that a consideration for an arbitrator determining player's salary? I'm assuming someone like Carson Smith is considered to be on the active list and therefore accumulating major league service time while recovering from his surgery.

Is it way too early to talk about replacing Panda at 3B with Hernandez? Or will resting Panda vs lefties when Rutledge returns help his average? I think he's something like 0-9 batting right handed. We have six years of team control on Marco. He just looks very solid to me. Someone that can hit .280 as the floor.

I'm more than happy to pick up Clay B when he becomes FA on the cheap. Maybe as a long reliever. No way I give him Masterson money, $9M plus incentives. He may want to come back to Boston. He may not be ready until 2019.

And he really got robbed on that cold, miserable day.....should have been a homer.

Let's look at Sox from the perspective of our chief antagonist, Buch Showalter. I'm pretty sure he threw a tantrum when he heard we traded for Sale.......His exact word (my guess), F*ck (70% chance), Da@n (20% chance) or Sh!t (10%). He probably kicks himself thinking about E Rod pitching several years for Sox, a kid he drafted. Most of all he hates Sox for having the ability to spend near or over the luxury tax limit every year. Things could be worse. We could be Baltimore fans.

I'm not so sure if E Rod is learning anything from Sale. He's still very deliberate between pitches. Threw 31 pitches in 1st inning. Doesn't seem to challange the hitters enough. Still too many walks. 100+ pitches in 5 1/3 inning. We won thanks to Hanley and our bullpen. Waiting for Betts to heat up.

31 pitches.......30 seconds between pitches.....ugh

One last beat down on a dead horse. I like to praise or critique trades/signings at the time of the transaction. It's always easy to look back and support your decision based on what transpires afterwards. Clay B.....even if Clay was healthy and pitching well for the Phillies, I still would think the decision to trade him was the right one. Trade has to be fair for both sides. Phillies got a pitcher with ton of upside and Sox got rid of $13.5M contract. Clay had two things going against him and one was out of his control. His $13.5M price did him no favors for one but he mainly got caught up in Sox wanting to go below the luxury tax limit. Now front office can say whatever it wants, but I think THAT had lot to do with it. Had our payroll sat at $150M, I'd say keep him. No sweat. Sox would have kept him too. Price....There was simply not much available as far as top of the line pitching was concerned. Again, it was something DD had to do. Did we overpay? Perhaps but not knowing what the going price was DD was not going to take any chances and get beaten out by another offer. It's unfortunate $31M per year sticks out like a sore thumb but it is what it is. No chance we win the division without him last year. Can we have it done cheaper? Perhaps but it's all Monday am quarterbacking to me. Kimbrel....this one hurts but it was our inability to have a healthy closer at the time that forced DD to make this move. Not only did it take Kimbrel, but we also had to trade for Ziegler and convert Kelly in a relief role to accomplish what we did. With emergence of some arms in the pen, it's pretty certain we will not resign him after 2018. As Moon said, was it worth paying FA price AND prospects for his 3 years of service? I'd say yes only if we win the world series. BUT again, this was a move DD thought he had to make in order for us to become a contender for 2016. He was right, even though we may have overpaid. Pomeranz....again, inconsistencies from Kelly, E Rod and Clay B forced this trade. I still think it was the correct move. The possibility exists for Espinoza to become a stud pitcher and Pomeranz to be mediocre pitcher for 2 1/2 years of service. Did we overpay? Probably. But DD was not going to sit idle and watch the team implode. As it turned out, Pom did not help the Sox but again that's after the fact. Sale.....no brainer. Emergence of Devers probably made trading away Moncada easier. Signing Groome probably made trading away Kopech more palpable. Finally a team friendly 3 year contract. Really enhances our chances of 'going for it'. It will be interesting to see what's needed for Sox at trade deadline and what's available. I would think Groome, Devers and Travis are untouchable for a half year rental if we decide to make a move.

I did it just for you......all is well.....I love the back and forth here.....I guess I need to get a life!!!!!

My real point was DD saw an opportunity to acquire Sale to enhance our ability to go for it the next 3 years. I just thought that was a bold move and I'm glad he did it.