oldtimer

With a new political situation, the very highly paid players may get taxed at a 75% rate or higher. Good luck to all those making big money as maybe they can be on a Canadian or Japanese team.

I'm wondering when the roster for 2019 gets updated. Is it during spring training or do we have to wait til the season starts? My interest is in Devers, who has been referred to as trimmed down. Since he was 6 feet 237# last year, a trimmed down weight may well improve his defense and keep him off the injury list.

Maybe you are correct, but posswibly Swihart will have shown an improvement and Leon will be moved.

Some of our compadres on this site use long term performance to justify decisions for the on going team. I am reluctant to do that with players who appear to be breaking out of their long term performance mold. Kelly did look to improve last season toward the end and may well have found something. Bogaert's hitting really was better in 2018, presumably because he took to heart to swing at good pitches earlier in the count and to try to drive the ball. Using long term statistics to justify decisions about Wright or Pedey are no more than a guess and are probably not close to reality. I'm not worried, as I think the Sox front office is aware of the likely performance of guys and will usually make good decisions. Like you, I believe the loss of Kimbrel, without a suitable replacement will impact the team's performance. But like Kimmi, I would be reluctant to pay big bucks and more reluctant to get into long term deals for closers.

A good thing that can't hit their own weight!

Give the young man a break. Maybe he has improved and can make a case for being our 2nd best catcher. I woulod prefer to see him compete in spring training and if he looks ggood to keep him and jettisone one of our other catchers, probably Leon. I know I am in the minority as others and especially Moon is advocating Leon and Vaz.

The word on Swihart is that his defense at catcher has improved and started to show toward the end of the season. If his defense is solid, then you have a player who may hit better and defend well enough to be a reasonable alternative to Leon. We shall see as the story unfolds in spring training.

Also, no burn is given to the possibility of improvement, which the sox are saying Swihart has made in the past year. Moon tends to look at long term numbers, which undervalues those who are improving. It looks to me as though we have 3 competent catchers on the roster and have to decide who sticks based on hitting and trade value. Leon has little of that because he doesn't hit, while its up in the air for Swihart and Vaz possibly will show better hitting. The plan may be to go through spring training with 3 and see which 2 we want to keep.

I agree with your position. We can get by with the two we had last year, but I don't view them as a strength as some others do. I would also be satisfied with keeping Swihart and letting go of Leon. The argument about letting Leon go is that no one else will trade anything for him. That should give us a hint of his value withing MLB.

I don't think the Red Sox have made the decision on which two catchers to keep. I would keep Vaz but am uncertain whether Leon should stay. He is solid on defense but a black hole on offense. Don't hear a lot of rumors flying around about the catching situation.

Here we are on January 17th and the three questions that were important before the winter meetings remain unresolved. 1. Who will DD get for a closer this year or will he just go with the pen as it is currently configured and bring up one or two minor leaguers to fill it out? 2. Will Pedey's knee be in good enough shape to allow him to play a significant amount of the season at 2nd base? If not, then will DD make a move? 3. How will the catching situation be resolved? Pretty much it is assumed we will only keep 2 on the roster, but how will that be decided? Seems unlikely, but another question that might come up is whether any of our minor league position players will make the roster. Chavis, Dalbec, Lin?

The scouting report indicates Dalbec is an average fielder with a strong arm. Chavis came up from being a shortstop. Neither of them is particularly quick and both need to get more consistent in the batters box. Dalbec has a lot of raw power but also whiffs a lot. Chavis also has good power and may be closer to being competitive against major league pitching. Devers will probably make a step forward but I stand behind saying that 6' and 237#s is too heavy for him. The good news is the Sox have recognized this and are working with him to get better control. I am 6'1" and weigh 233# so have some acquaintance with being too heavy. I've continued to play ball for many years and know first hand that the weight is not a plus other than on a scale. It's like carrying a bowling ball around with you all the time.

When owners have laid out big contracts only to get very little value in return, I think the reaction of being more cautious is expected. Long contracts at high AAVs may become rare.

Xander is 210 and is taller. Devers was listed at 235 but its not clear where he is now. Guess we will hear during spring training. I hope he gets down to 220 or less as it might give him additional agaility at 3rd base and reduce the wear on his joints.

A young guy who is about 6' tall and weighs 235# is too heavy. The Sox said he was getting help from a nutritionist. Hope so if he is to have a long career.

Actually, I certainly hope Devers will show lome losses, in his all to hefty weight. Right now we don't really know the makeup of either our second base squad and depth chart nor do we know who will be catching until something is done to clarify that. Still awaiting news from the Sox front office.

I am interested in watching our non-roster invitees in spring training. I am particularly interested in Chatam who at 6'4" and 185 pounds might fill a need for us should we lose either Pedey or heaven forbid Bogey. He is 24 years old and is a good defender with decent hit discipline but lacks power. Kind of skinny. He's an alternative to trading for a guy like Kinsler.

What nif Pedey's health doesn't allow him to play or make the roster. Does that free up his $13 million?

Pay your agent another $3 million.

The same 3 questions remain from before the winter meetingss. 1. Who will we get for a closer, if anyone? 2. Which catcher will we choose to trade away? 3. Will Pedey actually recover sufficiently to be our starting second baseman? The closer is the most pressing need although the catcher question might get involved in the closer question. The Pedey question is not as pressing although if the results of Pedey's return to running exercises proves problematic, that may change its urgency. I am not in a position to give solid advice to DD so will await his moves and comment then.

Your analogy of furnace or food begs the question. Do you need tenderloin or will strip steak do? Any damn fool with the thickest wallet can win if they spend without limit. It takes a GM and owner who can make smart decisions to both win and stay within the limit. We still are outspending other clubs. Still, the impacts of Panda's contract and now maybe Pedroia's are handing over our head.

Like I sense you are, I too am an older guy who has watched and rooted for the Sox for many years while watching the good and great players come and go during their careers. I can imagine the difficulties a GM faces doing business with the players and agents whiile living within the constraints applied on him by MLBB and the owners. I appreciate what DD and the others were able to do and really don't expect another WS in my lifetime, but will be pleased if it does happen. The expectations of players are much greater than in the past and I don't blame them for asking for all that they can get. The GM living with his reality will make an offer that is in the best interest of the club. In Kimbrel's case, that will take into his age at 30 (still pretty young) and his arm which has remained good as evidenced by his good velocity. I think most folks on this site would like him back but would suggest doing it with a contract offer that includes no more than 3 years to reduce the risk, and at a total dollar amount that keeps us under the second tier of the penalty threshhold. That probably needs to include a little room for unforseen issues like with Pedroia's health. I trust DD to manage the club payroll and will support his conclusions as he is in a much better position to know the situatioon holistically than I.

I think DD is facing the reality of trying to come in under the second tier luxury tax threshold and also looking forward to the following years. He may not want to trade JBJ but on the other hand he needs to look at where he might cut salaries while having the least impact on the team. Hence the JBJ talk and the Kimbrel and Kelly talk and situation. It sounds like the JBJ avenue is closed for now and the Kimbrel situation is fluid. Having limits financially is the reality and how to navigaqte those is what all the talk is about. DD is in the middle and won't please everyone but hopefully will do an intelligent job of keeping the pieces togther to be very competitive.

Maybe for scraps?

You sure do have your problems. Get well and be ready for spring training.