oldtimer

Then you know the way the game is played. What we don't have is a big library of cases on the way DD operates. It appears he looks at numerous alternatives and then goes in the direction of team improvement by getting equivalent value for any trades while he is open to spending a lot in the FA market. We will see if that trend holds. We all know the names involved but I would bet he has additional surprises out there. The first GM meeting concluded today with no announcements to date. The next is in early December in Maryland and at that time maybe some movement will occur.

The Sox will show strong interest in numerous directions such as Joey Bats, Beltran and EE. They have to do that with pitchers as well. They need to have numerous opportunities at each position, from which they will pick one or maybe two in the case of pitchers. DD can't signal too strong an interest in any candidate at this point without causing the price in $ and or picks to go up. He knows what he is doing in that regard.

We all know this of course but it is worth saying that we need several plans to fill a hole due to the competitive nature of the league. We may well be in competition with the Yankees and perhaps several other teams for his services. Good to have a plan B and a plan C to avoid over committing for the value gotten in return. Beltran is my Plan A though.

DD was quoted as saying he would be reluctant to offer EE a 5 year contract, which is what he seems to want.

Doesn't Chapman have an ongoing domestic violence charge against him?

I get that signing Turner at big bucks and probably losing a draft choice is a bit of a flyer. It would represent a real improvement at 3rd but the cost is high and it might not even be possible. The idea of DH with Beltran is solid and clearly we need to be involved in signing probably 2 RP's of quality. SP is a flyer like 3rd base, in that it will be costly in $ and talent and such trades are also risky. SP's can be fragile.

At 40 years old, we should have a good chance of getting Beltran for one year with an option year. Switch hitter, decent power, smart and a good clubhouse presence. Good for DH role. Might not get a QO and be in the top group in his category so might not cost a first round draft choice as EE would. Lot to like about bringing him on. I like Moon's plan C with Beltran and Turner. Solves two of our mot glaring deficiencies at reasonable cost. Opens up our existing squad to some possible trade candidates from third for possible RP's.

For those of you who are into the league happenings, there is a good synopsis in the following site: http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/2016-17-mlb-offseason-free-agency-winter-meetings-other important-dates/ The GM meeting in Scottsdale is coming up tomorrow and goes for three days. The winter meetings take place Dec 5th through the 8th in Maryland. Many other details of when key dates are hit.

With Leon's numbers in the second half falling off drastically (he is 5'10" and probably 230) and Vazquez offering little offensively we may have to hope that Swihart improves his defense so we can utilize his offense to improve our catching OPS.

Will Beni play any winter ball? He might benefit from getting another 100 AB's in competition during the offseason.

I don't think we should be expected to be best at all positions. Betts is probably the best right fielder. Pedroia is not the best at 2nd but he is darned good. Bogaerts also fits into that category. We should be happy to have above average players at so many positions and concentrate our effort on shoring up those that were either weak in 2016 or will become weak for 2017 due to losses such as Ortiz or our FA relief pitchers. We have a strong nucleus and an active GM who will try to fill the holes. Life is good.

I thought the decision to pull Henricks in favor of Lester was also a bad one.

Shaw can field two positions well enough to be on the roster, but can he hit well enough to be even close to average for ML players at either of those positions? The AAA and second half offensive numbers indicate someone would have to be optimistic to think so. I also like Hernandez as a utility guy who can play a number of infield positions. I also like the little I have seen of his PA's. He seems to know the strike zone and doesn't chase outside the zone. Probably neither Shaw or Hernandez are long term answers at 3rd, so I hope DD keeps on looking.

When you look at full season ratings it masks the weakness in some of the players second halfs. Who will we get next year, the full season stat player or the second half stat player? Certainly JBJ. Bogey and even more so Leon had weak second halfs. Shaw had a terrible second half offensively, so it dragged his overall down.

It was a big game 7 in which both teams were nervous. In the end, Cleveland pitching was pretty worn down and Kluber in particular showed the wear. Tough management decisions had to be made although I thought Madden's switch from Hendricks was ill advised as he was looking good when taken out. I would have been happy with either team winning. Good end to the season.

There is also talk about Trumbo as a FA DH. I still prefer Beltran as a more polished hitter but with less power.

The number one weak area going into next season is relief pitching. That has to be addressed due to losing 3 free agents and the weakness of some we had hoped better from, such as Abad. I would rate 3rd base as our second weakest area. Shaw didn't get it done last year and is likely to be marginal at best. I doubt Sandoval can return to that position and he may be more apt to fit the DH role against RHP if at all. I also now doubt Moncada based on what has been happening. Is he the second coming of Castillo or a true ML player in the making? We can get by for a while but I would go for a legitimate ML third baseman and not pin hopes on so many iffy scenarios. Trade the ones we have if need be. DH is also in need of change. If we could get Beltran, then we would have an excellent ML talent with some power to fill the bill for a while. Others, like Young and or Sandoval might help there. Catching is also in need of improvement as probably both our main catching talents are likely to put up weak hitting numbers. Maybe we look within at Swihart. I rate that as our 4th weakest area. SP is not a weakness except when we get into the playoffs. Then only Porcello and perhaps E-Rod can do the job. If a chance comes up for DD to snare a good young SP prospect, without giving away the store, why not take it? Clearly the likelihood of that happening is low but to be competitive in the POs we need some help.

Consideration of what we do in FA and trade moves should take into account what has and is being successful for teams that have surpassed us. One note is that two very effective starting pitchers do not throw over 90 mph. The cubs Hendricks and the Guardians Tomlin. Keep an open mind and look for pitchers with good movement and that are around the plate. What is it about Cleveland that allows them to sweep the Sox, go 4 of 5 against the Blue Jays and are now up by 3 to 1 on the powerful Cubs team? Clearly Kluber is special and backed up by Miller and Shaw they will keep you in any game. Tomlin has been very effective and they have Allen and Merritt for a solid pitching staff. They are missing some of their starting pitching which should be back next year. So they have excellent pitching and a manager who knows how to motivate and utilize that pitching. They also have a very good defensive team with very good speed at most positions. They certainly have one premier player in Lindor and are very solid with Santana, Davis, Rameriz and Fowler. Perez is a good catcher. If you went position by position, we compare favorably. Betts and LIndor are similar premier players. We had an edge or comparable in every position except 3rd and catcher. The Guardians speed seems to be utilized a little better than ours in my opinion and they do have more switch hitters, which may cause opposing pitchers some grief. The Sox need to close the pitching gap to beat the Guardians team but Chicago, with Lester, Arrieta, Hendricks and Lackey with Chapman in the BP have not been able to stop them so pitching is not the whole story. Good luck to DD to put together an improved team for 2017 with obvious holes improved and also with an eye on leadership.

At least for now, we have no outfield need for Swihart unless it is pure utility. A trade might change that but he is a more likely trade candidate than the others. Swihart hasn't shown great power at bat so probably would not fit the 1st base slot as well as Hanley. There is a real possibility at catcher as neither Leon nor Vazquez is likely to hit well. I would trade Leon of the two as he has a higher trade value and his weight is really too high to expect him to hold up well during the season again next year. If we can get buy with Swihart and Vazquez, then our needs should be focused on third and DH as well ass pitching. I have little faith in Sandoval. True he has lost weight, but he is quoted as seeing no problem with his performance the last period with the Sox. No contrition there and a likelihood of putting the weight back on. Shaw hasn't had any sustained period of performance at the plate. We either need to get a FA third basement or develop one of three young candidates and have him in the lineup by June or July next season. DH is either by committee or we really go out and spend big but the risk is also big. We have a big hole to fill with Ortiz gone and we need to improve in areas where we showed weakness last year. It's in DD's hands and things will need to start happening at the conclusion of the world series.

Lindor and Betts have a lot in common. Fast, athletic, great attitude and of course off limits.

There other options than Pablo. The main reason we are talking about him is the size and length of his contract makes it very difficult to move him. If he does come back after a full year off and two years of poor or no production what could we expect? We do have other options in Shaw, Holt and Hernandez. In addition, we have Mondaca, Devers and now Dubron waiting in the wings. Probably one of those guys will perform at least as well as Pablo can and will should he recover some of what he once was. I am not sold that Shaw can be that guy based on his body of work, although his defense is solid. I see our options as including a FA addition or going with Hernandez or one of our young prospects. Holt can be more of a general utility guy.

I agree with you on this one Spudboy. We can do better than him, plus I hate the idea of trading away Beni.

At least one Boston sports writer is talking about the possibility of picking up another starter but not an ace. Some of the talk was about Pomeranz ineffectiveness at Fenway and some other about the possibility of signing Buchholz only to use him as trade bait. it sounds like the situation is pretty fluid and of course the competition for both starting pitchers and star quality relievers will be intense. Putting money into our young stars is not a bad idea. I am still an advocate of fixing 3rd base and doing DH as a platoon job if need be.

What about Beltran. He is the kind of guy we need and may be available.

I was on the Beltran bandwagon from the get go. A real professional switch hitter for DH. Some power, decent average, good club house presence. Probably available for a short term contract for reasonable money. I also suggested Justin Turner as the best available free agent option at 3rd base. Another pro in the prime of his career. Probably big bucks and long term commitment but a solution to 3rd for a few years to come. Ian Desmond is being talked about as a possibility as well. he has played SS but is thought to be capable of 3rd. We could off load Rutledge, Shaw and Sandoval (would anyone take him?) and Hill will be gone anyway. Hate to see us lose Moncada as he may well blossom in the near future. Swihart may well become a solution to our weak hitting at the catcher position. Hanigan will be gone and probably Holaday. Take your pick, Swihart with Leon or Vazquez. Swihart has other value so I would want to keep him. Would that leave us with enough $ to get another solid relief pitcher (assuming we resign Uehara)? Would we want to keep Buchholz if we did sign another capable reliever? The final piece is a SP that could win in the playoffs. Assuming Porcello can do that, can E-Rod be a second playoff winner? It is probably a pipe dream to think we can get a pitcher of Quintana's ability. Just getting an average SP doesn't really improve us from where we are now.