Nick

I guess they did demolish our major league pitchers last year.

Pitchers seem more inclined to injuries than position players. But your point is valid.

I'm more inclined to think it's best to buy out couple of years of free agency when the player is young opposed to giving extension to an older player. There was really no reason to extend Sale in the spring training in my view. Same goes for Matt Barnes. I like what we did with Whitlock. We gave Devers an offer he couldn't refuse. I'm happy about that. He's young. His ten year deal will outlast any injuries he may suffer. I think there's merit to the original thought of not extending earlier than you need to for any pitcher in his 30's. See Sales and Barnes. I'm good with one/two year deals for veterans. PS. sorry it was meant to be a response to another thread.

So much for our 'prospects' Murphy and Walter. 12 runs, 11 earned in 4 1/3 innings pitched. I saw NO upside. Ugh....

Mata looked fit. I thought he was little pudgy last season from the pictures I saw. He really looks good. High velocity, nice cutter and also impressive 12/6 curveball. Moon and I have always liked this guy. Not sure where all the bullpen talk came from......come to think of it, it's due to his lack of command. That's fair. Now I'm talking to myself. Mata throws 47 pitches and three innings of shut out ball.

Well, I guessed wrong. Houck came back, got the pitch count up to 75, allowed two runs after a hit batsman followed by a walk. Best thing today was he threw 75 pitches. And he didn't get hurt.

I'm guessing Houck's day is over. 3 IP, 59 pitches. Anxiously waiting for Mata's turn.

Unless it's bottom of the 9th, game tied in 7th game of the world series. Yeah, I agree. I'm 99% sure Casas wasn't happy. I don't know who the play by play guy was couple of days ago, I couldn't stand it. They were laughing all the time. Really unprofessional.

Just as a fyi. Opening Day Payroll (not the luxury tax payroll) 01 $345M Mets 02 $271M Yanks 03 $238M Phillies 04 $236M Padres 05 $216M Dodgers 06 $208M Angels 07 $207M Blue Jays 08 $186M Astros 09 $182M Giants 10 $179M Cubs 11 $178M White Sox 12 $175M Red Sox 13 $174M Cardinals Mets Opening Day payroll is twice as much as Sox's? Unreal. Dodgers are definitely going after Otani.

Let's not give up on Mata as a starter, yet. Bryan Mata will show the potential for a true four-pitch mix with two potential plus offerings. He has shown the ability to miss bats with all four pitches at various points in his career. Ceiling of a mid-rotation starter. Full scouting report-

Yep.....good observation.

McGuire is earning $1.125M this year, his 1st arbitration year. I doubt he'll make $10M over the next three years combined, compared to Vaz, who the twinkies will pay $30M over 3 years. I like Vaz so I wish him the best. I also love having a left handed hitting catcher. Can we develop a catcher in 3 years? Oh wait, maybe we have one in Wong. Bottom line is I rather spend $9M elsewhere, say another starter or high end relief pitcher. I'll take THAT plus McGuire over Vaz.

I forgot about Paxton.

Sky is not falling, yet. 1 Sale 2 Kluber 3 Pivetta 4 Houck 5 Kutter Both Whitlock and Bello are closer to making a start. I think Wednesday is Whitlock day. I guess I'm one of few here optimistic about 2023. All the talk about Devers following Xander has completely stopped. (You don't see too many package deals in MLB, not like in NBA). We did get what we clamored for, right? I mean Devers is locked in for 11 frekin' years. The biggest complaint on this board was our bullpen. Well Bloom went out and did something about it. No love for at least trying to improve the backend of games? Oh, he's not perfect. Acquiring JBJ was stupid. Going over the luxury tax limit was moronic. I'd make him pay for the tax personally. We don't have a bean counter for $50K that do nothing but keeping track of it? Hell, I'll volunteer for that position. I agree 100% with Bellhorn. No one gets hurt. That's what spring training is all about.

Along those lines, especially with young pitchers such as Houck, Whitlock, Bello, Mata,etc. For our pitching gurus, why in the hell not stretch them all out during spring training? Is it because they won't be able to 'bounce' back after an inning stint as a reliever when the season starts? Is it that they can pitch one or six innings but only every 5th day because they've been 'stretched'? Just curious from a guy that knows NOTHING about pitching.

His changeup looked good vs Atlanta. He wants to be a starter. He's under team control for 5 years. Relievers are dime a dozen. You don't give up on a guy like Houck. I think he has higher ceiling than say Pivetta.

Perhaps it's the competition but our pitching looks decent for most part. NO MORE INJIRIES.

Sale, Houck, Pivetta, Kluber, ready to go path. Paxton's arm is okay. Bello should pitch in couple of weeks. Whitlock maybe month away. I am thinking " it could be worse".

Wander toward the back-right corner of the Red Sox clubhouse and you’ll see the lockers of the team’s three best upper-level pitching prospects right next to each other. From left to right are lefties Brandon Walter and Chris Murphy, then righty Bryan Mata. If that clubhouse layout is somewhat by design, Red Sox manager Alex Cora took it a step further in Sunday’s home Grapefruit League game against the Rays when he pitched them one inning each -- consecutively. Murphy has the most powerful stuff of the three, and his ongoing goal is to improve his control. Mata might have already been in the Majors if not for Tommy John surgery, which wiped away his 2021 season and limited him to 18 starts last year. Walter, whom the Red Sox took in the 26th round of the 2019 Draft due to the arm problems he had in college, had a brilliant ’21 season in Boston’s system, but was beset by a neck issue that limited him to 11 starts in ’22. The results? Murphy, Boston’s No. 15 prospect per MLB Pipeline, was first out of the gate, setting down all three batters he faced, including one strikeout. Up next was No. 7 prospect Mata, who worked around a walk and struck out one in his scoreless inning. Walter, ranked No. 8 in the system, capped the day by striking out two of the three batters he faced. Cora believes this trio can make it work...but, hey, we all know better than our manager.

Where is the pitch clock at the stadiums? Can the pitcher see it facing the batter?

I don't care. We have possibility of Bello, Whitlock and Houck all joining the starting rotation and Mata is waiting on wings. Someone here dismissed Mata as a reliever. Thing is they are all trying to get better. Mata was higher rated pitcher than Bello before Tommy John. Yeah, his control needs work but he wants to get there. He's lost weight, he is working on his change up. Isn't it too early to give up on Mata as a starter? Same goes for Kutter. He pitched well in stretches. I'll say it again, my 'eye' test say we have more young, starting pitching talent than we've had the last few years. Rank us 30th. Who cares? We're inserting Casas into the mix this year. Is there any doubt that Rafaela will crack the line up within two years? Story and Yoshida will buy us time to get some of our younger talent in A ball to mature. No more bitching about Devers? He's here for 11 years. 11 Freakin' Years.

So much for trashing our farm system ranking. I have learned that so called experts are not so expert.

I don't care what anyone here thinks. This is the best collection of young pitching talent (read 'young'='team control') we've had in awhile. Sure they may all suck but I'm optimistic. Bello, Whitlock, Houck, Schreiber, Matta, Kutter, Murphy and Walter. Add Noah Song to the list when he is returned.

If a fan is not excited about watching Casas, Bello, Whitlock, Houck and new additions, they need to go be a Yankee fan. So f***ing tired of all the negativity. We have won 4 World Series in last 20 years. Go suck on th at.

I guess the real question is would you rather have Betts at $29M or Story at $23M per year for 6 of Betts' contract years. Look to cut $6M elsewhere. No brainer to me. I see that we are still under the cap by $22M. Trading away Alex Verdugo would take care of having Betts' contract.