oldtimer

That's a pretty definitive statement. I would think DD is more flexible and would consider any offers that add value to our club.

The basis for getting rid of Shaw doesn't have to be Pablo being in such good shape. There may be other deals. He also mentioned Hernandez and Devers.

One thing pretty noticeable is our starting pitching lineup includes 4 lefties at Fenway, which is not known to be friendly to lefties. Just a consideration of our SPing.

My concern is risk. Losing Sales due to injury is the risk. We are betting probably at least 10 years of ML contributions for Moncada, Basabe may also be a ML for years to come and Kopech has the talent to become a frontline starter in the future. Diaz at least has a chance to become a ML pitcher. That is a lot to lose and the risk is definitely there with sale. I'm not saying DD is wrong in what he did, but I wouldn't have and both opinions can be supported.

With Shaw gone, it gives us a solid fielding 1st baseman and a left handed bat and gives us a chance to put Hanley up as DH. I like the move and had guessed DD might go after Hosmer as a similar get.

Yes, the $5.5 Mil will give us a left handed first base hitting GG winner and allow Hanley to move to DH. Against left handed pitching we could move Hanley back to first and make Young the DH. I think DD made a reasonable move with Moreland. Now, what to do about third. There was mention of Hernandez as a possibility as well as Devers, should Sandoval not work out.

In his news conference, DD said you can never have enough pitching but then added he would have an open mind about trading a starter and mentioned there were other starting prospects in the minors. I am not sure the staff is fully set. Keeping Abad looks like a bad idea.

I am nervous about the trade with the object of winning now. Trading away 4 talented prospects for an ACE could help us in the short term provided Sale can hold together for a couple of seasons. He has a lot of innings on him during the last 5 years and the deal would look bad should he get injured this year. Meanwhile, we gave away a potential top of the rotation type guy and a potential star position player along with a good young outfield prospect and another quality pitching prospect. DD made a decision to use our minor league riches to try to win now. Hope for our sake it doesn't backfire as the risk is seemingly high. Some of you would say no risk no reward. We shall see.

Up to the trade for Sale, I was happy with DD. Now I think he has made a bad mistake that will cost the Red Sox for the next few years.

Trading the #1 prospect in baseball plus the @1 young pitching prospect in our system plus probably 2 more players/prospects for one Ace doesn't make sense to me. For all of you who are elated, remember Sale's velocity is down and he could well get injured and only put in part of a season while we will be without numerous good prospects/players. I can't share anyone enthusiasm about this and hope it isn't true.

I for one hope it isn't true.

DD got what we needed but we did take 3 arrows out of our quiver to make the trade. That's 3 less left for follow-on trades that will probably come in the next day or two. We still could move on 1st base, DH, 3rd base or more pitching.

Very smart approach and one that DD will probably take. One of the sports writers mentioned Hosmer as a possibility, which might make sense if the cost was reasonable. A left proven hand bat and good defensive player to allow Hanley to be DH. No one here responded when i suck this one in earlier, but he looks like a great fit for the team, also allowing us to shed a player or two.

Why not go after Eric Hosmer as a left handed hitting firstbaseman and move Hanley to designated hitter. We would have to trade away some players to get him but it would give us a bonafide asset and left handed bat at first and solve the DH situation at the same time. I guess the question is what would we have to give. Wade Davis is also out there and maybe could be wrapped into a mega trade.

The sportswriters are saying what those on the board have been collectively thinking. The asking price for Sales is just too high and beyond what Boston is willing to pay. Also that EE is out for the same reason. Too high a price and too long a contract. With Beltran as plan A off the table and EE off the table we are back to either a DH by committee or getting a non=optimum solution from outside. Be interesting to see what DD has up his sleeve. Financial constraints and the salary cap may rule the decision making this year, but that remains to be seen.

Too bad we didn't get him but such is life. DD probably has plans B, C and D. I would expect something will happen in the next few days on the DH front

Not only do we lose Ortiz, but it is unlikely that Leon will put up a stretch as he did last year. We do need to improve offensively at our weakest position and not lose to much at DH. My hope is Beltran and an improvement at 3rd with perhaps JBJ showing some meaningful hitting adjustments.

Agreed. It will put a crimp on any expensive signings by the Sox, especially facing salary arbitration going forward.

The new CBA may well backfire on the players as teams like the Red Sox will be hesitant to pay a big luxury tax on FA's. FA's like Encarnacion with his expensive long term contract will find themselves taking less or with no place to go.

There is not much wiggle room under the salary cap and it is unpalatable to go over the salary cap. I presume we still want Beltran, so making that move plus getting relief pitching is looking like our main goals in the off season. We may well need to shed some salaries to make that happen. We probably will be without Tazawa, Ziegler and Uehara and could do without Abad. In addition Hannigan and Holoday will be gone and Rutledge and Ortiz. I know Moon has provided these scenarios in the past, but now it is for real. Good luck to DD as the winter meetings will commence Sunday.

One item of note Luxury tax threshold Incremental increases from the current $189 million of 2014-16 to: 2017: $195 million 2018: $197 million 2019: $206 million 2020: $209 million 2021: $210 million

Maybe Swihart straight up for Robertson? Could we afford that? Boston sports writers suggesting that.

You have been like a broken record on Sale, Robertson and Frazier. Give it a break and see what DD comes up with.

I wouldn't trade for Sale or Frazier but would think Robertson would be a nice addition. Right now the Yankees and Mets are also interested in him so it might be a hard get.

I have no problem reading a long post like this one when it is well thought out and stated. Like you, I believe the rotation is good with E-Rod likely to become a quality starter next year. I am not a fan of Buch but having him as a 6th starter is okay. I believe DD will not trade for a starter without getting equal or better value. I also advocated the approach of not getting stuck on the idea of a full time DH but considering a DH from among our 25 man roster. Young looks like a potential candidate as does Swihart. Moving older players like Pedroia and Rameriz there to give them a break at times is also a good idea. I wouldn't rule out looking for a candidate that could play in the field and also DH part time. That wouldn't be EE. Again, DD should only go into the FA market to improve the team and stay away for long term expensive contracts for ageing player. We may have a weakness at catcher next season, but all that talk is relative since there is no Johnny Bench out there. I am resigned to staying with the talent we have although who plays and how many make the roster is an interesting question. I like our outfield and hope that jbj can make adjustments to his swing. We are solid defensively and if Beni can keep it going, I would take our outfield over any in baseball. Our infield is solid defensively but we still have a question mark at 3rd base. I don't like the idea of saying we should accept a position where we are weak because we are strong in other positions. If Shaw repeats his second half offensively and Sandoval is unable to return from his long hiatus, then we might have to rely on Holt and hope Moncada can progress rapidly. Justin Turner looks awfully good on paper, but he is probably unobtainable at any reasonable price. I don't know where else we go with this but think we could be weak throughout the season at 3rd. Relief pitching is definitely needed with Uehara, Ziegler and Tazawa probably all gone. Abad probably won't be renewed either. I would look for one very solid setup man and another long reliever to supplement what Buch can give us (mostly in the BP). We have seen some rather aggressive proposals for trading away many of our solid players, depth and prospects to get SP and RP. Some of those proposals seem like giveaways to me with less value and higher risk in return. DD is clever and I hope will not follow that approach.