Nick

If Price does opt out, 2019 will be Porcello's last year. Money maybe better spent on extending Porcello. At least that's my hope. The big picture is that we are in the pennant race now and we should compete for the title in 2018 and 2019, especially with the way our SP rotation and positional line up is shaping up. After last two years, we're in a good place right now.

I don't think he'll opt out but I won't lose any sleep over it....$30M can go toward our killer B's....

PER SOXPROSPECTS Kopech Fastball: 93-97 mph. Have seen him top out at 98 mph, but reportedly has hit 100+ mph. Explosive pitch with plus life. Sinking movement. Plus-plus potential. Well below-average command. Command will take time to develop. Slider: 84-87 mph. Plus potential, showed wipeout potential and bat-missing ability. (E Rod is pitching much better since he quit throwing his cutter and replaced it with slider...) Changeup: 85-88 mph. Firm, some drop. Similar arm action, needs to improve consistency with arm speed. Below-average potential. Curveball: 79-82 mph. Loose break, drops arm slot. Flashes tight rotation and depth. Average potential. The club has reportedly asked Kopech to shelve the pitch to focus on his other three offerings, which makes sense as when he throws both in the same outing they end up blending together in a slurvy breaking ball in the low-80s. He's 6-3, DD type of starter....I think his development plus signing Gromes eased the pain of trading away Espinoza for DD.

Anytime a kid throws close to 100 mph and walks only two batters, I'll take it. And I don't care at what level. His biggest issue will always be his control. Major league hitters will wait him out if he can't paint the black.

We have our starting pitching locked up for two more years when Pomeranz comes off the books. Price can opt out but I just don't see anyone else willing to pay north of $30M he's making now. Pomeranz can be extended if he continues his recent success. I guess Clay can be a back up plan for 2017 and become a trade bait at mid year if our top 5 is healthy and pitching well. Johnson seems to be making progress from his anxiety disorder. Kopech could be a mid season call up in 2018. At this point, we only upgrade our SP through a trade and that won't involve big payroll addition. Sox will get relief by dumping Buchholtz if there's a SP acquisition. Killer B's (assuming Benintendi starts in 2017), Pedey and our core catching group appears to be set for next couple of years. We have numerous candidates for 3B, 1B and DH spots. If DD decides to go all in for Encarnacion, then our offense should be humming irregardless of who is on 1B/3B. (I'm rooting for Moncada and Hanley remains at 1B)). Our depth should be excellent with Young, Holt, Swihart and Shaw. 1 Pedroia 2B 2 Xander SS 3 Betts RF 4 Encarnacion DH 5 Hanley 1B 6 Bradley CF 7 Sandy C 8 Benintendi LF 9 Moncada 3B Assuming we retain Buchholtz, we gain salary savings from Koji ($9M), Ortiz ($15M) and Tazawa ($3.3) and Hanigan ($3.7), total of $30M. Between Luxury Tax increase and $30M, do we have enough money to rebuild the bullpen and sign Encarnacion? What do you think?

He should have kept going and stop between 2nd and 3rd....forcing the SS to decide whether to go first or get either Benintendi or Shaw. Or just stayed put at 2B.

Starters under team control Price 2022 Porcello 2019 Pomeranz 2018 Replace with Kopech E Rod 2020 Wright 2020 I doubt Price would opt out.....it's a solid group if they stay healthy

Team G IP W L S ERA H R ER HR BB K G/F WHIP AVG OPS Salem 10 51.1 4 1 0 1.23 24 9 7 0 24 81 2.17 0.94 0.144 0.443 Kopech getting it done........Michael Kopech continued his domination, tossing seven shutout innings and allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out ten (Sox Prospects)....2018 looks about right for him.... No home runs given up in 51 innings. Limiting opposition to .144 Batting Average. High K/BB ratio. WHIP below 1.00. Dominating performance so far.

Xander's plate discipline has left town.......he looks like a shortstop at the plate

Better get some reps in LF

Our #1 baby will be in the majors by 2019...bank it.

I'm almost holding my breath.

18 year olds serve in the military.....There's nothing magic about being 23 to make it. Why is our expectation so low? This kid was a projected #1 overall pick at one point. I just don't get the temper the expectation crap on this board. Will we hurt his little feelings?

Let's go back in time......

Well they rocked the boat with Benintendi.....over half the posters here didn't want him getting called up. You make the team better. There was an interesting article in Fangraph talking about the Sox at the trade deadline. Everyone was clamoring for Sox to add pitching but the jest of the article was why not add another bat to already potent offensive lineup? Until recently, we had Leon/Benintendi hitting 8/9th. How many teams can put up quality bats that Sox did with those two? Our LF problem is solved. Next position that needs upgrade is at 3B. Shaw is hitting slightly above .200 after the hot start. Hill has not hit his stride. If Moncada looks to be over matched, then you pull him out. It's that simple. I will give Sox credit in looking under every rock to make the team better. They need to see what's under the big rock labeled Moncada.

I'd give E Rod all the time he wants. We've seen him when he's not 100% comfortable. He's night and day from earlier in the year. He can't be thinking about hammie. As long as Clay is going strong, you ride him, ride him hard.

One thing I like about Wright is he does recognize when the 'control' goes away. He makes quick adjustments. It's doesn't always work but he seems to understand his knuckle ball. Plus he's a competitor. Just don't have him run the bases. Ugh.

Moon, he can help the team in different ways as you've said. He would be an asset for the stretch run. My guess is that Sep 1 call up date has absolutely no meaning to DD. He is all in to win the Division Title this year. I'd give it another week.

Sorry....I forgot to give credit to Sox Prospects site.

We certainly have options. It may not be a bad idea to give everyone one extra day off......not sure if that would backfire. Pitchers are creature of habits.

Hiring Brian Bannister was a good move. Showing Buch that his pitching slot has dropped significantly over the years is another example of good work he's done. Film does not lie.

the reports on his defense have been positive since he moved to the hot corner on August 12. (in previous articles, he has said that he grew up playing 3B and CF)

Player of the Night: Yoan Moncada was on base five times and hit his 10th home run with the Sea Dogs. While the Red Sox could wait until September 1 to call up Moncada to avoid having to make any difficult roster decisions, he likely represents an upgrade over Travis Shaw, who entered the day batting .207 with a .643 OPS in 232 at-bats since May 22. Moncada could platoon with Aaron Hill to limit his at-bats against left-handers, and the reports on his defense have been positive since he moved to the hot corner on August 12. Is it time to upgrade 3B? What are we afraid of? Benintendi experiment worked out. If you can make the team better, then you do it. Don't give me why fix something when it's working crap. Many here said the same thing with Benintendi. What drives this team is the enthusiasm of younger players. And they are good.

Player of the Night: Yoan Moncada was on base five times and hit his 10th home run with the Sea Dogs. While the Red Sox could wait until September 1 to call up Moncada to avoid having to make any difficult roster decisions, he likely represents an upgrade over Travis Shaw, who entered the day batting .207 with a .643 OPS in 232 at-bats since May 22. Moncada could platoon with Aaron Hill to limit his at-bats against left-handers, and the reports on his defense have been positive since he moved to the hot corner on August 12.

It's discouraging to know that even last night's game would have been in jeopardy had we not scored additional runs.....our bullpen is so capable of giving up home run balls....ugh Why is it that our flame throwers throw straight fast ball with no movement? (Barnes, Kelly)