Nick

Secondary needs 1. Upgrade front line pitching....can we acquire Chris Sales without giving up the farm? Or are we willing to part with say both Gomes and Kopech? Or is that even enough? I would not give up neither Beni nor Moncada. 2. Top of line closer caliber reliever (but who is not actually a closer)....who and what would it take? 3. Top DH....Encarnacion....how much and how long? Are we willing to go over cap? Will FO listen to Ortiz? He will play a role similar to Martinez, no? If we love Ortiz so much why do we all think it's a stupid idea? Primary needs 1. Relievers..Koji, Tazawa, Ziegler replaced by C. Smith, J.Kelly and ??????. Basically Ziegler acquisition was to mitigate the loss of C Smith. (although it was perfectly timed as Kimbrel went down at the same time) Emergence of Joe Kelly may have reduced the 'need' number to 1 reliever. Very doable. 2. Hanley has proven more than adequate at 1B. We still need DH and 3B. Do you platoon say Shaw and Young at DH? Are there cheaper solutions to acquire 2 players for short term without blocking Moncada? Can we live with Shaw in the lineup knowing offensive contribution from catching spot will surely go down and big bat of Big Papi will be gone. Three black holes? We have some work to do.

I just don't see Beni going on a sustained slump that lasts over a month, something both Xander and Bradley Jr have done. I think he'll become better hitter than both of them.

If I offer Chapman $30M and tell him he won't be the closer, he'll refuse? Are the closers that stupid?

If Cy Young award was based soley on measurable numbers....bWAR, fWAR, PWARP, Deserved Run Average, WHY IN THE f*** DO WE EVEN HAVE PEOPLE VOTE ON IT? Just give the damn thing to Kluber.

Okay, I'm losing my arguement. Champman will not come to Red Sox for the simple reason he won't pitch anything but the 9th inning. My bad. He will want even more money to pitch in 'hold' situation. Got it.

If I'm the highest paid reliever in mlb, why would I care how I'm used? If my ego is that big, then I wouldn't sign me. It's not like the team is going to use me in low leverage situations.

I like JBJ ahead of Xander. I like our OF going forward.

Well put..Are we going to base his future on 30 PA's? He has the raw skill set. Great arm, athleticism, power, etc. It just may not happen in 2017.

I can't imagine how the Marlin players feel.....I realize they have to play out the season but boy....that's got to be tough.

It's unfortunate that in today's me first generation that one won't pitch the 8th inning no matter how much he's getting paid to do it.

There was a good article on how the spread between team revenue and luxury tax threashhold has widened over the last few years (obviously the TV revenue has skyrocketed). It's time to put the limit to around $230M so we can sign Encarnacion and Chapman without luxury tax implications.

Yep....that was a big miss, especially for an organization that signed Porcello to 4 year, $82M on potential.

From where I sit, that's a big freaking IF if there ever was one.....now that would be a bet I'd be more than happy to wager on.

Great to see that we have two 'work horse' starters in Price and Porcello (200+ innings). I'm hoping E Rod joins the two next year. He is maturing in front of our eyes.

I'm not disparaging Porcello at all when I say he's the safe pick in my opinion. His volume of work for 2016 is Cy Young worthy. I would be surprised if someone else wins it.

He's currently the highest paid at $11,325,000. Miller signed for 4 years @ $36M last year. $15M per year looks reasonable to me, especially for a reliever. I certainly wouldn't pay anymore for him. Not very many teams can afford him and that should work in Sox's favor.

You are correct. I was just throwing out names. I know that Moon has talked about Sox needing couple of relievers. We paid $13M for Koji and Tazawa. We need a bona fide left hander. Robbie Ross Jr and Robby Scott are decent #2 and #3 lefties. Why not just sign Chapman? That's who I would target. I guess my question is do we have enough money AND tie up capital for Chapman (4 years @ $60M) and Encarnacion (5 years @ $100M) with pending FA looming in couple of years?

I'm not sure if Detroit can overtake the Orioles, they are 1 1/2 games back. Orioles also won the season series so they are 2 1/2 games back? Detroit 4 vs Cleveland, 3 vs Atlanta Baltimore 3 vs Toronto, 3 vs Yankees

Or Moncada

Shaw simply has not hit since June. I think he is what he is doing right now. No more than a utility guy. He maybe of some value to a team like Oakland A's.

I can't disagree with you. I thought Wright was the worst choice to pinch run at the time.

It appears Wright won't be back. There's really not much to say about him right now as we approach the playoffs. I hope he recovers fully and gets back to 1st half performance next year. He really did struggle after the All Star break.

Kelly is beginning to impress me. In 9 games in September, he WHIP is below 1.00, he has not allowed a run, he has 15 K's to 3 BB's in 11+ innings.

Well there's actually no thread titled A Realistic View at 2017....there's been numerous discussions about next year's roster. You can always just ignore.

Bullpen for 2017 Craig Kimbrel Carson Smith Heath Hembre Joe Kelly Robbie Ross Jr Matt Barnes Fernando Abad Robby Scott good start