Nick

I just don't see Moncada in a trade for the simple reason. $60M. What are you going to say to Henry? Have you really thought this out? And it's only been over a year.....I just don't see it.

I still would explore the possibility of signing EE and trading for Sales....it may take JBJ and slew of youngsters....Kopech, Devers, Shaw, Owens? Move Beni to CF, Young and Swihart could occupy LF spot...I would roll the dice with Moncada....bat him 9th and pinch hit for him if need be.... You can then move one of the starters to acquire a young bullpen arm. Sign another bullpen arm, surely that's not brain surgery. I doubt Moncada could do any worse than Shaw/Hill combo. Maybe start the year with Panda....if that works out than Moncada can be shifted to LF, Swihart back to cathing position..... Sales (or Quintana), Porcello, Price, E Rod and pick between Clay B, Pomeranz, Wright for 5th slot. I would keep Pomeranz because he can throw out of pen. I don't want to pay $13M to Clay to be a bullpen guy. I think EE will give us solid 3 years at least. I don't see his power diminishing. Hell I could be wrong.

Basically we are standing pat, so why don't you assume for sake of argument that they also stand pat. Maybe you can use little brain and say something like, well if Blue Jays resign so and so, etc, they would win the division.....or you can just ignore and not participate in the discussion.

What's our starting lineup if we do nothing? C Sandy 1B Hanley 2B Pedey SS Xander 3B Holt LF Beni CF JBJ RF Betts DH Young C Vasquez Utility Swihart, Rodriquez, Shaw SP Price, Porcello, E Rod, Wright, Pomeranz, Clay B Pen Kimbrel, Kelly, Smith, Barnes, Hembree, Ross, Scott. can this 25 man roster win the division if everyone stays healthy?

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/mlbs-evolving-luxury-tax/ Here's a good article on widening gap

Red Sox has the highest average ticket price in the majors. The difference between the luxury tax threshhold and the team revenue is widening 'bigly'. I would not be surprised if the luxury tax limit goes north of $210M. (put it another way, major league payroll component is now significantly lower percentage of total revenue). I will ban myself from this site (volunatarily), if we do not do one of following two things. 1) go after EE very hard (if we don't get him, there will be back drop story on how another team just out spent us) or 2) make a major trade either for top of the line SP or an All Star caliber position player. Sox is a big market team. DD ain't going to stand pat by moving Hanley to DH and filling in corner IF positions on "a hope and a prayer". I would make a trade for Sales for JBJ and slew of youngsters not named Moncada, Devers, Kopech and Gromes. And then sign EE.

For sure, that attack was greatly....very greatly.

Do you think Swihart is a viable option as a starting catcher? I do. I can't believe he's THAT bad defensively with his athleticism.

So you have given up on Swihart already? Sox FO thought he was good enough hitter to play left field. Was it the original plan to move him out of catcher's position when we drafted him? If that's the case then Sox Scouting Dept has some explaining to do......

Per Providence Journal Article Encarnacion isn't a perfect fit, as he'd make the top part of the Red Sox order lean even more to the right side. And there's obvious risk in signing someone in their mid-30s to a major contract. But Dombrowski's modus operandi last winter was to locate the simplest solution and pay whatever it took to make it happen; see: David Price and Craig Kimbrel. sometimes we make it more difficult than we need to....

I think we're all in agreement that we have a pretty good ball club. The team needs tweaking, not complete overhaul. Just signing a DH will allow the Sox offense to take a deep breath and see what develops. The benefit is our farm system is not disturbed. Shaw/Rodriquez platoon at 3B can't be any worse than Shaw/Hill experiment. This will allow Moncada additional time to develop. Ideally, both Swihart and Moncada take over the C/3B positions at some point during 2017 season. Our lineup will be solid 1-9 at that point. Our starting pitching is more than adequate with Wright coming back healthy. E Rod appears to be getting stronger and has not reached anywhere near his peak. This was first full season for Pomeranz getting to start and he should be better in 2017. I suppose you keep Clay B for additional depth. I'm too lazy to look up. Any trade deadline top of the line pitcher pending FA candidates?

Mods....you need to merge this thread with Moon's 2017, Part I

Wouldn't it be the easiest thing to do to just to sign EE and keep everyone else intact? This will allow more of our younger players to develop. I'd like to see Sam Travis get healthy. We pretty much know what we have in Swihart. Let's not give up on him catching for the Sox. He is our best hitting catcher. Moncada may catch on fire sometime during 2017. Surely we're not giving up on him after investing $60M and fewer than 50 PA. We'll have upgraded LF with Beni playing the full year. I think Swihart will hit as well as Beni given the opportunity. I would trade Vasquez or Leon for a reliever. EE may not have the impact that Ortiz did but he may hit more homers than Ortiz. Someone needs to hold down 3B until Moncade is ready. He has major league tools. I'd be surprised if he's a complete flop. I would wait for trade deadline to make a major splash.

We could have waited another year? Really? Waste productive years from Ortiz, Pedey, Hanley, Betts, etc? You never give names. What was the alternative? I recall before the pitching staff got going in September we were blowing leads left and right. Everyone here have absolutely no idea what was available at what price. We gang up DD for not developing bullpen in Detroit and when he does something decisive to correct the deficiency for the Sox, we still complain. Moon you have beaten a herd of dead horses. Let it go.

JF is going no where......DD just recently said he did a great job managing this year. Sometimes fans look for something that's not there. I'm not a big fan of JF but I don't believe he's the difference maker, good or bad. It's the players' game.

1) Betts (2020-I might try to lock him up soon...........KEEPER....EXTEND HIM 2) Benintendi (2022- He's got several more years of team control than Bogey & Bradley)...KEEPER...CHEAP, UNDER TEAM CONTROL 3) Bradley (2020- Hope for more consistency)....KEEPER...GREAT CF...WILL ALWAYS HIT WITH SOME POWER... 4) Bogey (2019- just 3 yrs left- Dubon in the wings)....#1 TRADE CANDIDATE....EASILY REPLACEABLE DEFENSIVELY... 5) ERod (2021 or 2022- still has enormous upside)...KEEPER, CAN'T GIVE UP ON YOUNG LEFTY WITH UPSIDE, CHEAP, UNDER TEAM CONTROL 6) Moncada (??- still has top value)....KEEPER, YOU DON'T THROW AWAY $60M INVESTMENT, ATHLETE, CAN PLAY MULTIPLE POSITIONS 7) Porcello (2019- high priced but indispensable)....3 YEARS WITH REASONABLE COST, I DON'T SEE BETTER OPTIONS 8) Pedey (2021- still a force but will decline)...UNDER CONTRACT, WON'T GET ANY VALUE IN RETURN, MOST VALUABLE TO RED SOX 9) Groome (??- far away but with a lot of promise)...NO WAY WE TRADE HIM 10) Kopech (??- may be ready by mid 2017)...NO WAY WE TRADE HIM, BEST CLOSER TYPE GUY IN THE FARM 11) Swihart (??- I feel many GM want this kid.)...PERHAPS THE HIGHEST TRADE VALUE GUY 12) Devers (?? May be blocked.)...REDUNDANT WITH MONCADA..TRADE BAIT 13) Wright (2020- 4 years is nice)...KEEPER, INNING EATER AS LONG AS HE DOESN'T TRIP OVER 2B, CHEAP 14) Vazquez (2020- hope his offense pick up)...KEEPER, TRADE OTHER CATCHERS 15) Pomeranz (2018 at a low cost)...KEEPER, NO POINT IN TRADING THE GUY, WON'T GET MUCH VALUE IN RETURN, 16) Ramirez (2018 or 2019 w vesting option)...KEEPER, NOT SURE WE GET MUCH IN RETURN, WE NEED TO SEE SAM TRAVIS AND HIS UPSIDE 17) Leon (2019- less years than Swi & Vaz)...ADEQUATE DEFENSIVE CATCHER 18) C Smith (2020)...KEEPER, SOX NEEDS QUALITY RP WITH LOW COST 19) Kimbrel (2017 or 2018)...AGAIN NOT MUCH VALUE IN RETURN 20) Price (2018 or 2022 -opt out)....HE'D CLEAR THE WAIVERS Based on my response, can we get Sales from Sox for Xander, Swihart and Devers?

Well, I like this plan and I think that's what DD is thinking....

Moon is correct in assessing this team. We have a young core of good position players, but that may not be enough. Great pitching still trumps great hitting team. That is why you don't ignore the possibility of trading for a top of the line starter. Sure it's still a gamble. But Price has been ineffective during post season games. Porcello is new to the arena. E Rod may get there someday, just not now. It's probably easier to rebuild position spots than developing an ace. Sox had Lester and that's all that I can remember. Schilling pitched in big games successfully with Arizona before coming to Red Sox. Beckett did the same with Miami before being traded to Red Sox. That is also why Clay Buchholtz maybe our best starter in the playoffs. He has the best stuff on our team if he can put it together.

Most of experts here claim there's no home field advantage. Thus every game is 50/50 proposition. (Vegas bookies may disagree, but they are not handicapping based on who is better, but what they perceived as how the bets will be laid). Cleveland winning the first two games had 25% chance but they did just that. Now we have to win 3 straight. Not impossible but odds are 12.5%.

Xander looks more and more like a medicore hitting below average fielding shortstop. He looks completely lost at the plate.

I think twice about locking up light hitting shortstop whose agent thinks he's God's gift to baseball.

Wright not available to pinch run tonite?

You are making my point. Why bother to vote for MVP? WAR stats are out there.

Why not declare MVP the guy with the highest WAR? If we are going to look at simply the 'made' up parameters, why even bother to rely on bunch of stupid sports writers and other media types?

Bucky Dent didn't think much of HFA....