oldtimer

Yes, and that eliminates a direction that the Sox might well have taken. I hate to be put into a corner and be forced to take a player for a long term contract at high dollars.

Santana to Phillies?

Both Santana and Cozart appear to be taken further limiting the choices available.

Martinez and Hosmer both have Boras as an agent and he no doubt is delaying for the best offer. Trouble is that we really could be caught in a trap if we wait and other potential FA's or tradeable players get scooped up. DD has already signaled that JBJ is available for the right trade. Maybe we should just try to get Santana or a slightly lesser player and let Boras play his games with others. I don't believe Machado will be traded this year nor any of the other super players so lets go with a lower cost bat and look into the BP pitching instead.

Maybe we caan pick up Castro.

He didn't trade Ozuna to the Red Sox, did he?

The fact that we tried for Ozuna does indicate we were willing to modify our existing outfield which probably means trading JBJ. With Cora talking about batting Betts first and beni second, it doesn't sound like either of them would be moved. A wild thought is to move Betts to second, but that is not going to happen so I have to conclude JBJ was on the block. What might have applied to Ozuna could also apply to JD Martinez, but he might better fit as DH instead of outfield. Big bucks and probably an extended negotiation period. Can we afford to wait with Boras making the rules? Here we are getting through the winter meetings and nothing done. I had hoped for more.

Jeter's just a schill for the Yankees.

I postulated that long ago. Devers defensive performance at 3rd and his body type may be more suitable in the long run to 1st. We should at least be considering a big bat at the hot corner and moving Devers. The thing is, is Machado even a possibility for us and at $300 mil is it a good fit? If, and it is a big if, Handley can return closer to his earlier form, then we could get by with one big bat, a fill in for Pedroia and one very solid lefty addition to the BP. Right now Cora is making noises like he would like to set the first two in the lineup as Betts and Beni. We know Devers will be 4th, 5th or 6th at the latest and Hanley will bat high. Our big bat addition could be a cleanup hitter. That leaves Hanley at 3rd, 5th or 6th. Not sure where Bogey will fit, but if he starts off hot again, 3rd wouldn't be a bad spot for him. We are not bad at the bottom of the order except our Pedroia fill-in will likely be a low 200 hitter.

Dec 13th and no hard news as yet. It isn't imperitive, but would certainly be comforting to see the Sox get their big bat by the end of the winter meetings. This is a case where no news is not the same as good news.

I know, it's tough to be patient and wait to see what Decisive Dave will do. Very few of us want him to pull off a move like Pablo and Hanley or Price for that matter. These moves have hamstrung us for the past few years and remain impacting the club for this year in a major way and perhaps 2019 and beyond. We need solid improvements in the infield at 1st and help at 2nd at the least, along with relief pitching. To those lauding the Yankees, remember, they cut a deal with A-Rod that didn't work and had other older players weighing them down. They seem past that now. We have to purge our worst moves to move ahead strongly. Hanley at least has some hope of performing better this year as does Price, but I am not counting on it.

With the winter meetings on us and the Yankees making a big splash with Stanton, the clock is ticking on DD and as usual, he plays his cards close to his vest. Other than knowing he has said we need to fill our first base needs and we need a first baseman and probably a lefty reliever we really have no clear statement of what is to come. While we will probably exceed the luxury tax limit, we are still constrained with a few overlying contracts so cost is a consideration. To fill first we could make a trade for Jose Abreu at a significant cost and get a very solid guy or go for Santana and get a good hitter but not the big bat we would like. Hosmer would be way down on my list. We still could be considering moving Devers to first and looking for a solid third baseman. Or, we could move Hanley to first and go for a big hitting DH. Lot of options here and the Devers move is in consideration of his weak defense at 3rd last year. In Hanley's case, many on the board would prefer he not play enough to vest in for 2019. If we moved Devers could we get Donaldson, as he is rumored at being available at a high cost from the Jays. Moustakas is more likely, but his bat is not big enough. Another possibility is to go and try to get Martinez and either play him in left, trade JBJ and move Beni to CF. The alternative is to move Martinez to DH and move Hanley into 1st base, while keeping our outfield intact, at least until the AS break where that could be reconsidered. To me it seems with Abreu, Donaldson or Martinez that any one of those would push our cost up and we have to consider arbitration costs and pitching acquisitions. I can't see us getting two costly players this year as we still have to get past the Panda contract and see how we handle Hanley's $22 Mil. Good luck to DD as it will be no easy task to build a better team than we had last season.

Lets keep Brannen. I see in him the next CF within 2 years.

Nice to see you taking a reasonable position. As Kimmi has said, lets wait and see what DD has in mind and can pull off. We have a good nucleus and with the right additions can compete with teams like Cleveland and the Astros. The Yankees do look scary on paper and will doubtless also try to improve their pitching. They also are taking on risk with long and expensive contracts, the very thing we were advocating against for the Sox.

I totally agree. Remember, not all that glitters is gold. The Yankees have taken on risk as well as GS possible capabilities.

California state tax rates are very high topping out slightly over 13% whereas in Mass the rate is around 5.1%. He would get a nice financial boost just avoiding California's taxes.

Completely tasteless and silly post. Trying to say this is somehow a failure by Dombrowski. Do you harbor such hate for him or is this just your attempt at humor.

I came back to this post simply because of the amount of effort you put into it and the developing nature of the story. Thornburg signed for 2018 for a little over $2 mil. Perhaps you should make a separate string with this kind of information and just do an update as changes occur. That would save needing to repeat the work and posts would only be needed when a change occurred.

I don't think so. Like Kimmi, I didn't think we had much of a shot at getting Stanton. Nor was it ever likely that we would get Ohtani. The JD situation means a big commitment in salary and years and I would also avoid it. I think DD (Decisive Dave) will get something done but it is more likely to be with a Santana or Abreu. Unfortunately, we woulld have to give up a package that to get Abreu. No doubt there will be a lot of complaining if he puts much of our young talent into getting him.

With Lin you have a player with speed to fill the role that Davis filled at the end of season last year. In addition he can play short and second so would be a nice guy to have around for utility at low cost. If we can unload Holt's small salary, I am all for it as his possibilities are either at 1st or second base. Marrero and Hernandez can handle the infield utility role and/or fill in at 2nd as well. We have another consideration with Leon versus Swihart as well. Leon remains a solid defensive catcher but last year his offense reverted to a lower level. I'm not agaqinst keeping Leon, but it is a potential move that we can look at during or after spring training. How solid will Swihart be? Not much mention today about the possibility of trading for Jose Abreu. It might take Chavez and perhaps one of our lesser performing BP guys and we would have to accept his salary. I believe there are two years of control with him and he is a consistent hitter with a 30+ HR potential. It would be a big upgrade at 1st base, and that is what I have been recommending. Quality hitter with solid HR potential.

I like Lin as our 5th outfielder and untility man. He has really good speed and could fill the role that Davis held last season but at a lower cost.

What we need is some real move by the FO so we can get away from the pettiness.

Didn't Moreland play through a broken toe about that time?

I agree with your thoughts and as fans we can speculate, but in reality DD has to do the best he can with the parameters set for him. I don't think he is stupid and therefore his decisions will be made as the realities of the situation become available. My only issue with his approach to date has been the big long term contract he gave to Price. That is not because it hasn't worked out so far, it is just the nature of giving a guy a long contract at big bucks that will limit what the team can do moving forward. I hope Price can give us something for at least a few years to come but am sceptical of that coming to pass.

I haven't either and signing him would have to take into account his health and whether he has made a recovery. He may be hard to sign anyway after his stellar performance for the Sox in 2017. If not him then I would look for another to be able to fill in at short or second and be a solid bat like Nunez.