Nick

Yep, I meant the Sox players. Cot's has 5 players each making $600K. Looks like we'll be $15M under the cap. Assuming we pick up Kimbrel's option, getting rid of Moreland will cover increases for both Kimbrel and Sale in 2018. $15-$17M under-cap amount will be needed to pay for 9 or so arbitration players. We're pretty much committed to Sam Travis for 2018.

Has anyone here seen contract #'s for pre-arb players other than $950K for Betts?

Should the Red Sox take a shot on Brett Lawrie? asks Overthemonster article. Pass. Why do we keep going back to injured players? It's time we figured out what we have with Hernandez and Josh Rutledge. At some point this year, I want to see platoon of Sam Travis at 1B. I'd much prefer natural 1B before Hanley. When you factor in defense, Travis/Moreland combo with Hanley at DH is better than Hanley/Moreland combo with Young at DH. I'd use Young resting our OF and pinch hitting for our catchers. He can always give few days off DH'ing for Hanley.

It would suck to give away $62M for a surgery at this point. That pretty much wipes out 2017 and 2018.

I think everyone pretty much agrees that it's going to be tough to replenish our farm system under the new set up. Couple that with the fact we should be drafting lower due to our expected success. We may get a surprise or two in lower rounds but more than likely that will be offset by flops in higher rounds. I'm not sure what the hell DD is thinking pronouncing our farm is still in good shape (rated #21 recently). It's not. For us to get anything coming back in a trade we need redundancy at some positions. I don't see that right now at any position. Our starters maybe good but not much depth behind any position except maybe at catching but how much can we get for Sandy or Vazquez? Probably not much. At best, Devers, Travis and Groome will replace open spots in our roster due to FA or lack of production (good news is that they will give us 18 years of team control). DD better find a way to keep current core group together until 2021 when Pedy retires. That's five more years. You start with having five quality starters. Looking back, 2015 starters were pitiful. This is a must, a quality starting rotation. I'm with Kimmi, our farm system is desolate.

Let's go back in time, shall we? I was so disgusted with our ball club in 2015 that only games I watched were the games that E Rod started after his call up. Was he perfect? No, but when he pitched well, he pitched like a #2 starter. I don't have the stats in front of me but my guess is that he pitched well 2 out of 3 starts. Not a bad pick up for half year of Miller. Last year, he was not physically 100%. That led to some bad habits. I recall a game where he only had two pitches and everyone sat on his fastball, which was in low 90's. Something was off. Lets' wait and see how he does in April. He's under team control for another 5 years. We need for him to succeed. He's got the stuff to be a #3 pitcher and I think that's his low floor (ceiling?)

Where's Espy?

Dumb question....why can't Price not miss any turns at start, limiting his innings or pitch count? Hell, pitch 2 innings, pitch 3 innings and so forth and stretch him out? Or pitch him out of bullpen?

Beni now 4-4, just homered.....and two doubles. How can he not bat 2nd for us?

Porcello pitched three strong innings today. Benni is right now 3-3 with 2 doubles. Kid can swing the bat. No worries.

Why do we want to keep picking up everyone else's trash? We got enough fat f***s already on the team.

Sox is now up 17-1 on the Rays. I contend this is typical Sox offense. They really feast on bad pitching, bringing up their offensive averages. Many here will say our offense is great. Is it? I wonder what the run differential in 2016 would have been if we capped the single game differentials at 5 runs, plus or minus either way. Thus if this game ends at 17-1, Sox would be given a credit for 6-1 win. Why the 5 run cap? Yep stupid logic, losing team can hit a grand slam and still be one run short with a 5 run deficit. My guess is that Sox win more 'huge' run differential games than losing them. 17-1 win combined with 5-2, 7-3, 2-1 loss becomes meaningless when you 'average' these 4 games. We've outscored our opponent 23-15, yet we're 1-3. If we capped it, it becomes 12-15, better explanation for going 1-3. Any math geniuses out there?

Per Sox Prospects on Devers Summation:*All-Star potential regardless of position due to his value at the plate. Potential to be a plus hitter for average with plus-to-better power. One of the most exciting young players in the system in years. Mature approach for his age, has shown the ability to handle aggressive assignments. Will stick at third base for the foreseeable future, but if his bat develops as projected, it would profile at first base.

My take away for Dalbec over last 12 months. Was not crazy about pitching, but he did what he was asked in college Always preferred wooden bat Changed his stance back to his Cape Cod days, opening up his stance. Offensively, it's just matter of making enough contacts (easier said than done), but there's no denying his power. I know that people here hate to talk about prospects as DH but there's really nothing wrong with it. Travis at 1B and Devers at 3B. Those two need to be in the lineup at some point. Groome is a must at this point. More than likely he's a replacement for either Sale or Porcello. I'm not sure if we can sign both of them when that time comes.

Beni, Beni, Beni....6 freaking years of team control.

Holt sucks.....only reason I wouldn't trade him is because we'd get nothing in return. At least the Phillies took $12M off of our hands for Clay. He made several miscues in outfield last year. Just because a guy 'tries' doesn't make him a good player. It's not T ball. Yeah, I appreciate that he gave the old college try but I rather not see him in OF, I'd take Travis over him at 1B, TODAY. I can't imagine he's our second best option at 3B, SS or 2B. Okay, he doesn't suck....he's a bench player and he's on the team only because he can be the third option at 7 positions if you count DH.

In reality, Pablo and Hanley's contract ends at same time, assuming 1 Hanley does not get hurt next two years and 2 Sox does not pick up option year on Pablo. They are both with us for next 3 years.

Chatam and Ockimey at #7 & #9. This is why to me I'd sign Betts, Sale, Bradley Jr and Porcello in that order. Xander is my 5th guy. If Xander costs more than $25M, I'd pass. Our OF depth is very thin in our organization. Dalbec and Ockimey can take over for Hanley when that time comes. For 2020 season 3B Devers SS Chatam 2B Pedy 1B Travis DH Dalbec C Vazquez/Leon LF Beni CF Bradley JR RF Betts SP Price SP Porcello SP Sale SP E Rod SP Wright If we need to, we can insert Swihart in LF, move Beni to CF, Betts in RF. It's not unreasonable to believe Boras will oversell Bradley Jr......I can live with Sale, Porcello, Betts extensions. If Groome is ready in 2020, then I suppose we can pass on Porcello. Don't get me wrong, I want Xander, Bradley Jr and Porcello along with Betts/Sale (two must gets), but I have a feeling we won't be able to sign them all.

Other teams want Holt because he is cheap. You are not going to get much of value in return.....that's what the market value means. You may think you live in a nice house in a good neighborhood, but if there are no buyers at your asking price, then your house is worth more to you to keep it than sell it.

I don't see DD kissing ass of media, fans nor players. He's very forthright.

I appreciate everyone's input. But, I seem to recall DD saying Swihart will work at catching. What he says matter more than what any of you think. Now he may change his mind but I'm pretty positive the plan is for Swihart to catch until further notice.

I'm also anxious to see development from Dalbec, Chatam and Oakimey in 2017. Chatam is athletic 6-4 at SS. Both Dalbec and Oakimey has raw power. Chatam may give us a viable option if Xander bolts. It's really unfortunate that we bombed with Trey Ball.....no excuse on missing out that badly. 2013 draft was a bust.

We'll have Beni for 6 more years and Betts/Bradley for 4 years. Our outfield depth maybe iffy but that's quite a trio. It's given that they can chase down balls. Sale will be the biggest benefactor of our defense. Vazques/Leon under control for 4 years, Swihart for 5. If Travis comes up later in the year, we'll have 7 years of team control on him. Pedy is with us for 5 more years. Hanley and Pablo for 3 years.

More on Sam Travis....when DD is high on a player, we ought to listen. "There was a large number of corner bats that were DH/first base/outfielders," Dombrowski said. "So when you looked at it, it looked like there were more players than needs with clubs when you analyze that. So we felt somebody would be left at the end in a position where they would be looking to get a job or not getting the dollars they wanted. There are still some people who are even out there at this point. So it really hasn't surprised me a great deal." Dombrowski said he really likes the dynamic with Moreland and the way the club has shaped up. He said replacing David Ortiz with one player is impossible. Sure, the Red Sox aren't as good offensively. But Dombrowski said the team is better defensively with Moreland, a 2016 Gold Glove winner, at first, and with Chris Sale in the starting rotation. He also pointed out first base prospect Sam Travis' talent/promise gave him motivation not to sign a first baseman/DH to a longterm contract. "I think the other thing in our mind is that we really like Sam Travis a lot," Dombrowski said. "We don't think he's going to be ready this year at the beginning of the season because of the injury last year. But if you sign somebody for an extended time period as a first baseman/DH, you don't have room for Sam Travis as you go forward because you've got Hanley and you've got that other person. And so for us, we really felt it would be better to go on a short-term basis."