oldtimer

I am hoping that the Sox move ahead with developing a full time second baseman. There has been enough drama with Pedey for the last two years. Keep him arou nd on the 40 man but don't rely on him.

I'd be willing to sell you the Brooklyn bridge at a good price.

I was always a fan of Pedroia, however, at 36 and two years removed from playing and with a knee unlikely to handle the day to day stress of play, the Sox had better plan for a full time option at 2nd base. Will it be Chavis, Hernandez, Chatham or other? Don't know but we would be kidding ourselves to expect Pedey to fill the job in 2020.

Yes, but can he hit?

In addition to the $15 mil for comp and benes, I like to see a buffer for mid season moves. I have used $6 mil as a small but useful amount to have in reserve. It will be difficult to get there, since even if you take out Leon, Hembree and JBJ, you need to find replacement, who may cost less but still something. I think there will be another significant shoe to drop (meaning trade) but the devil will be in the details. Packaging a good current player with one of our underperforming starters makes sense as a solution, but isn't the only way..

I am getting ads sshowing up on some of the web entries. Two were Trump related and one was stub hub.Are the rest of you not seeing these?

The naming of the automatic strike detector as a robo ump is unfortunate. It is only a tool for the plate umpire that will allow for consistency and accuracy. Yhe current umpire calling balls and strikes means the strike zone varies with the umpire and to some extent whether he blinks or is upset with a particular player.

Whats with letting the political crap get into this website?

I think Mata will move up some time this coming season. He has the stuff to be a starter. Like all young pitchers it will be consistency and command that will determine when he comes up. I also think Dalbec will be up early in the season with Chatham a definite possibility, perhaps in a utility role. A lot will depend on what happens with out outfield with the potential loss of two major starters from 2019. Duran is knocking on the door with superior speed and a good bat. Dalbec and Moreland, if we resign him, might try to fill the DH role. I am against signing Encarnacion, even for a single year although other DH candidates might be attractive. All depends on JDM.

DD's strategy was win now and the hell with remaining competitive on a sustainable basis. The Sox ownership went along but now have decided on a different path, which is, get back to being competitive on a sustainable basis. I hope they will take the chance of overspending when they look like they have a real chance of winning it all.

I would think of Chatham as a utility player with Chavis at 2nd and Dalbec at first (supplemented by a veteran left handed first baseman who could be Moreland)

From what I read of the result of the Arizona league, the side of the strike zone calls were good but where the difference occurs is balls that dive down and catch the front of the strike zone and wind up in the dirt at the catcher. With human decision making, those would be balls. The players who were interviewed indicate that pitch would require more adjustments. It seems that the high tech approach is at least consistent and wouldn't be impacted by hurt feelings or dizziness, blinking or other human frailties.

I'm hopeful he will direct the staff to get away from issuing the most BoBs in the league. Lets try to throw more strikes and show the door to those who cannot. I hate it when a Boston reliever comes in late with a multi-run lead and proceeds to walk several batters. Kimbrel got that way and did Lelly, Barnes and others. Had to be at least partly coaching at play. Hope the new guy, having been a pitcher can help us improve in that regard.

I see the so-call robo pitch calling as a tool to aid the umpire do his or her job. Clearly, it has the potential to be far more accurate and less controversial. After another year of watching erroneous calls impact games and perhaps even the series outcome last night I have become more in favor. It has already been tested in two minor league applications, so the time for implementation in the majors is getting close.

Don't know where to put this but in watching the WS last night, the importance of getting ball and strike calls correct was brought home to me again. MLB had put the umpire behind the plate that had graded best on getting ball and strike calls correct and yet humans blink and can otherwise get things wrong at times. One such time occured in the 7th inning. Greinke had given up a homer to Rendon and had the dangerous Soto at bat. The count was 1 and 1. Greinke threw a sinking pitch to Soto that was well within the strike zone and should be made the count 1 and 2, a pitchers count. Greinke grimaced at the call of ball and then tried to nibble and lost Soto. He was removed from the game and the rest is history. It wasn't the only bum call as Correra was called out on strikes on a pitch that was several inches inside. I know there will be boo-hiss comments from those who would not favor robo-umps but you could make a case that the WS outcome was altered by a bad call when the technology was there to avoid the issue. I don't know if it will be brought up in the news but maybe it should be.

When he winds up in some god forsaken backwater for the most money, you will have your answer.

Now there is talk of a potential trade of one of our starting pitchers to the Texas Rangers. Could be Price but also could be Sale.

Then there is a chance his health will deteriorate and his season numbers in 2020 will be worse. He has to weigh both possibilities. Its one of those bird in the hand scenarios.

Would you rather have onne 7 win guy and three 1 win guys or four 2.5 win guys? The 7 win guy, you may have to tie up your money for 10 years to sign him. Personally, the chance of declining performance due to injury is higher for one 7 win guy.

This isn't fast pitch softball where you can have one dominant player and still win. Eddie (the King) and his court don't work in MLBB.

In reality, a first tier competitive balance tax of $208 mil means $208 Mil less about $15 mil for benefits and some amount for wiggle room needs to be left for mid season adjustments. If one choose $6 mil you really have $208 less $21 or $187 Mil for salaries and that has to include the 40 man roster over the 26 man. I agree for planning sakes that the team needs to decide on a heirachy of spending by position criticality. How that is done is part of the planning that FO needs to develop. To make this plan work, a number of low cost players need to be brought up through the conduit of the farm system on a yearly basis. Name a number (3, 4 or 5). Hard for a team in the upper echelon of competitiveness to develop enough farm to MLB's consistently to fill the need. Getting a few low cost FA's is an alternative. The current Sox are in a bad position, with Pedey all but done and still on the books. They there are Price, Sale and Eovaldi all making big money and on long term contracts. Then Bogaerts at $20 Mil and JDM at $24 mil and Betts natuarally wanting to be paid according to his perceived value. It doesn't work and that is what Bloom is facing in his first year. I can see the Sox going over the first tier, but not to be smewhat competitive. Bloom is facing tough decisions to return the payroll to a more sustainable amount while keeping the club competitive. Oakland and the Rays did it and on a much lower total salary basis.

For those with an interest in our farm and the progress of some of our standouts, I recommend reading the following: https://www.milb.com/milb/news/triston-casas-jarren-duran-carry-boston-red-sox-organization-all-stars/c-311011996

A couple of high interest minor league pitchers not mentioned are Mata and Houck. If either caqn fill a starter role we are in much better shape. I would hope the new pitching coach, reportedly Buch, will change the basic approach to more aggressive command of the strike zone. I didn't like the high walk rate we had last season.

I didn't think a lot of fans pointed at DD for this years failures. That had to be placed primarily on the players and coaches. DD was constrained by the budget limitations (those he helped create) but that was the primary arrea of blame. What I thought most fans were saying is that DD's methods would not be the best approach for dealing with a team with a bloated payroll, a weak farm and a number of underperforming contracts. Clearly the ownership is looking for a reset this year and someone more suited to making that happen, while starting to rebuild the farm was sought. Bloom is a guy who appears to meet those traits, so without blaming DD we are moving on to different methods.

The Yankees are carrying a big payroll and need starting pitching. They certainly had underperforming contracts. I would expect Cashman to make moves in the off season but he will be contrained unless the Yankees want to exceed the second tier. Our pill will start to be swallowed in 2020 and depending on how well Bloom and the front office stay with the plan, I expect we will stay competitive. Quite a bit will depend on Sale and Price. Anything from Eovaldi will be a bonus.