oldtimer

I agree with your points of view. We were not a dominant team period, but had elements enough to be a good team. The near collapse of the team at the end is a great bother to me and that's why I would prefer a change in managerial leadership. Would it help? I don't know if it would but the status quo didn't seem to work and we have lost Ortiz, so will lose a big piece going forward. I do think DD made a good effort to improve the team and expect he will do so again in the off season. It is a competitive business though and it is difficult to get real value and improvement when making trades and picking up free agents. Pitching, Catching, Third Base and Management. It is likely pitching and 3rd will be addressed. Hope that can happen without weakening ourselves in other positions or giving away key prospects going forward. Recognizing you have to give up something when trading for something, it will all be about value.

The Guardians have held the Blue Jays to 1 run in two games and needed to do that to win. They have done that with good starting pitching (which may well be better with the return of injured players next year), good and effective use of the bullpen and good team defense. The Guardians often also manufacture runs. They have good speed and are aggressive on the bases. They are pesky hitters. If you judge a manager by results versus expectations based on talent, then Francona has to be rated high. If you compare what the Red Sox talent and results were, particularly at the end of the season, then the SP looked decent although with some warning signs of trouble, particularly with Price. The RP looked good with the exception of Kimbrel who went wild and couldn't seem to come out of it. Our defense looked on a par with the Guardians and maybe better in the outfield. We have a lot of speedy players but didn't pressure the opponent pitcher much since we weren't getting on base. Our hitting, already declining was really held in check by the Guardians pitching. The Red Sox went into a 9 game malaise at the end of the season. Personally, I would look for a change in the manager and hope for better results. Someone capable of exciting our players and using our strengths to win the close ones. Who knows if someone else would actually do a better job, but standing pat means we get more of the same. It is beating a dead horse though since DD has already indicated JF will be the manager next year.

At least one Boston sports writer has us keeping Ziegler if we can get him to resign. That wouldn't be a bad idea and would cut down our needs at RP.

I'd say no for several reasons. We didn't win it this year with a better lineup (Ortiz). We will likely face a number of injuries, as we do most years. The Yankees will be on the ascent and the Blue Jays despite losing Encarnacion, will still be tough to beat. Some of our guys had career years that they probably won't repeat. Leon for instance and Shaw is more likely to not add much in offense. There have been numerous suggestions for ways to improve the team. Most are well meant and have a reasonable likelihood of improving the team. You can't stand pat and improve. We will need to at least make changes at 3rd base and in the RP area (since we lose 3 of our meaningful RP through FA). At most, I see us adding RP's, picking up a reliable 3rd baseman (yes Sandoval and Moncada are wild cards there), a DH and if we get lucky a top SP. That would mean some of the players you list for standing pat would be gone. Clearly, to get a SP we might have to trade at least some of our depth, but it is not worth it if we have to put up our young starting talent to do it.

I agree that Hanley needs to remain in the lineup as one of our most feared power hitters, something that will be in short supply. His fielding at 1st base did improve during the season so I no longer see him as a liability there. He certainly can play first in national league parks and if we want to slide him to DH to give him a rest, that is okay too. Our real needs for lineup players are at 3rd base, catcher and DH. Whether in the FA or trade market, we need to pick up a good quality two way player at 3rd. Moncada may well come along during the season so that presents a quandry. I agree that we should not go after Encarnacion. It would be a big buck deal and a long term contract and we would be in competition with many for his services. He will be 34 and presumably going in the wrong direction. Maybe Beltran would fit the need as a DH, PH, backup outfielder. He is a very good hitter and has power. If we could get him on a short term lower dollar contract I can't see the damage going in that direction. Catching is still up in the air. We have good defenders in the fold but the hitting is suspect to weak. The only FA worth his salt is another of those big buck long term contract types (Wilson Ramos). Perhaps he is injury prone as well. Internally, we have the possibility of Swihart. Doesn't appear to be a perfect answer at catcher as standing pat also looks bad. We have to trust DD to make the optimum move and getting value for the team while still having resources to bolster the relief and possibly picking up a first rate SP. I agree tha

I wasn't happy with our losing 9 straight. We had a breakdown in our closing pitching, 4 of our hitters were slumping, JF gave away a game, our best starters couldn't get it done and in one game usually reliable players made errors. You can ask why that happened. I don't think there is one answer, such as it was all JF's fault, but I do think he and the coaches contributed. The giveaway game was supposed to set up our pitching going into the playoffs and no doubt JF gave the game away to rest players and set up his pitching. It didn't work but at least there was a reason he did it. The inability of our coaching staff to help JBJ out of his slump, which occurred over a long term is also a mystery to me. It was clear that his swing was not only lengthened but also he began looping it, presumably for more power. Bogaerts was also in a prolonged slump which he finally seemed to be coming off in the last game. Slumps will occur but coaches are there to bring the good hitters back to a norm. Our starting pitching is what it is. Why it should crater at the end is a bit of a mystery, but only Porcello really looked capable of out-dueling the opponent and when he failed we had Price with his poor post-season record and Buchholz who tends to be inconsistent. DD has already stated that JF will be back so despite the feeling maybe a change is in order to freshen the outlook, it will not occur in 2017. It's a choice and the team will live with it so I certainly can.

If we get another high quality starting pitcher through trade for next year, I would not choose to renew Buchholz.

We certainly could use a better hitting catcher. The only person that might be available that fills the bill is Wilson Ramos, and to take him in the FA market as an A level at his position would mean us not being able to go after encarnacion from the way I read the FA rules. So with Swihart being an internal source, it is worth consideration.

You can choose to believe that, but the fact is we played poorly for several series before Cleveland. We just had too many flaws to move ahead. The real question is can we do enough to be near the top again in 2017. Cleveland had two top pitchers out who will return next year. Count on the Yankees to be in the market in a very competitive push to surpass us next year. We have had countless inputs to threads identifying our weak areas. Third base, catcher, DH, RPs and possibly one SP. If DD can fill at least some of those voids through the FA and trade markets, then we should be very competitive. In addition, we are hoping that some of our coaches/manager can have an impact on a player like JBJ to improve him at the plate.

Add one other. It was just a fluke we lost all but one of our last many games. Managing and coaching didn't matter either.

My feelings as well. What I wonder about is why, with all the expert coaches on the Sox, that his approach wasn't dealt with during the season? Maybe it is hard to do anything on the fly, but I have trouble buying that argument. When a guy doesn't have the innate ability it is one thing ( perhaps Shaw, Leon) but JBJ does have it and wasn't able to stay focussed and that cost the Sox. I sure it will come up along with player changes needed to improve the team, but should we also look at the coaches and manager to see if improvements need to be made there as well.

EE will be 34 years old next season and will be much in demand from a number of clubs. His contract is likely to be 5 years at high dollars. No doubt he is a formidable power hitter now, but how long will that last? Beltran is a good hitter with power who can probably be gotten for reasonable dollars and no more than a 2 year contract. The difference is significant and for those that want to stay within Luxury tax limits, another big long term contract might force us to lose some of the killer B's in the near future.

Question about free agency. I think our three free agents are neither A or B quality so based on my reading of the free agency rules, we can only pick up one in the A range. If we pick up Encarnacion, I believe he is an A level at his position, so we would be limited to him and could not get an A reliever or catcher should those people be of interest. I would think Beltran wouldn't be a A list FA so we might be able to pick up an A at a different position. Clearly, this is also a money thing as the contracts for A level players are high dollar. You seem to be clear of these things. Am I right about this or is it handled differently? If I am correct, then we would probably have to balance high performance FA acquisitions with trades to improve the team.

Our current catchers are good defensively but are a liability at bat. Swihart might be a solution to the hitting issue but would his defense be an offsetting liability? Certainly if we could improve our catching slot from within, without going into the expensive FA market, then that is a better solution. Leaves more resources to deal with the 3rd base issue, DH and R Pitching. At this point if we could trade for an ace SP without ruining our prospect list, then I would consider it and perhaps not pick up Buchholtz contract.

Just based on his contract alone, you have to give Sandoval a look. Possibly 3rd, 1st or DH. He bats from the left side, something in short supply next season, so another reason for giving him a look. He probably has zero trade value, so we either eat his contract or try to find a home for him. I am not optimistic about his return to acceptable form but stranger things have happened.

I think JBJ could improve his swing. Go away from the long, uppercut he developed during the season) back to a more compact swing where contact is emphasized. If he hits 260 to 270 with reasonable power, we would have a gold glove defensive outfielder who is still a threat at the plate. I would be very reluctant to include him in any trade. Personally, I think Leon reverted to his long term hitting form. He is unable to deal with a curve and often takes third strikes down the middle, seemingly unable to see the pitch well. He is 5'10" and listed at 225 lbs, so is slow. He is a good defensive catcher, but we need an upgrade with someone who can hit a little more. Vazquez is not much of a hitter either but is certainly a fine backup. Swihart may be a deep backup but not an everyday catcher.

First of all, I think JBJ needs to revamp his swing, which is both long and uppercut right now. Perhaps he went to this swing thinking he would generate more power, but instead he has become a low contact guy. If he could adopt a swing like Chase Utley (compact), he would make contact far more often and not lose a lot of power. He is a great defensive CF and has shown flashes of the hitter he could be. Definitely a keeper and a lefty to help our lineup. Pedey, Betts, Bogaerts, Beni, Hanley all make up the strength of our lineup. Add JBJ and we have 6 high quality guys. I would go for Wilson Ramos in the FA market and set up C with Ramos/Vazquez. I would prefer Beltran for DH, assuming EE to be an expensive, long term acquisition. In the pitching area, I would go after Quintana with our trade bait. If Robertson could be gotten,, then that would be great, but I suggested a couple of free agent pitchers elsewhere that I would also chase. If I let go of a starter, it would be BUchholz.

Wilson Ramos is recovering from surgery but is one of the guys we could really use. We really have good defensive catchers but with Leon looking helpless at the plate( taking strikes in critical situations and unable to deal with the curve), I would take a chance on a catcher who can hit. I would keep Vazquez and trade Leon and Holaday. Hannigan (gone anyway). I might try to keep Swihart as a deep backup. I would go after Beltran for DH. He is a quality hitter with power. EE is likely to be very expensive, want at least 5 years, not to mention pending legal issues. Trumbo might not want to be DH and while he has power, his avg. is pretty low. I would take a shot at Justin Turner for 3rd base. We currently have Shall, Hill, Holt, Hernandez, Sandoval and Moncada as possibilities. I would keep Holt, Hernandez and try to develop Moncada. I would trade Shaw and Hill while giving a look to Sandoval. I think Hanley can fill our 1st base needs so wouldn't go after one. Our outfield is solid as is second and short, so in my opinion, 3rd, catcher and DH need upgrades. I would go high for RP with Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon being my two targets. If we want a SP, which we don't have to have, but could use an upgrade, then try to work a trade for Quintana. We have some carrots to offer. Clearly the FA market will be competitive and we are unlikely to get all of the ones I am interested in. DD will have the tough job of getting value in return for whoever we are able to get, if any.

Its over now as we were swept by Cleveland. It was good to see some fight from the guys during this game and at the end. At the end of the day, the pitching needs to hold the opponents down since playoff pitching often means low scoring games. We couldn't do that even though the BP did it's job pretty well. Sorry to see Ortiz go out this early as he has been one of the greatest Sox player. What was interesting is several of the guys in deep slumps got meaningful at bats tonight. Maybe they can come away from this with a good feeling of possibility for 1017. There is a good nucleus here and DD is likely to be aggressive to fill some of the weak spots.

One other thought is that some relievers don't do well if they come in with men on base. Kimbrel may be one of those, for instance. You need to slot the guys where they can feel comfortable and do well.

Aren't you being overly dramatic. As far as I can see one person said JBJ should not be considered an all star based on his hitting slump and you infer everyone on the sight shares his opinion.

Either E-Rod or Buchholz have good enough stuff to start. JF is going with the more experienced pitcher and I'm okay with that.

The reality is the end of season performances by many of our hitters slipped off dramatically so we haven't been as good recently as the ratings for players that you cite. I sincerely hope that JBJ, Bogaerts and Leon can regain at least some of the performance that they demonstrated during a significant portion of the season. Perhaps today some lightning bolt will hit and at least one of them will find themselves and help the cause.

I don't remember for sure when the role of closer was fully established. Starting pitchers used to try to go 9 innings. Now we have a model where starters may throw 100 pitchers of maybe a few more before being replaced or if they get into any trouble, they are yanked early and we seem to have 7th and 8th inning setup men and a closer. A point here is the approach to handling the pitching staff is continually evolving and probably will continue to change as the years go by. Perhaps the idea of a shared closer role is not that far fetched. Sometimes the guys could fulfill the role of the setup man or the closer, whichever seemed to be needed the most at the time. Creative handling of the staff, if an innovation seemed to work, would soon be copied and pitchers would learn to adapt to the new reality. Look at the Yankees this year with 3 guys who could all have been closers.

Well, Texas and the Sox were rated at the top at the start of the ALDS, probably based on their records and potent offenses. Texas just was swept in large part due to weak starting pitching. The Sox have also lost two with weak performances from their starters. Kind of points to the need to have improved pitching. In our case, we chose a bad time to have our hitting also go downhill, but some of that is due to the improved pitching seen in the playoffs. There will be a competitive market for such starters who might become available through Trades next year.