Fan_since_Boggs

I'll go with Lakins, the Red Sox are obviously desperate for bullpen help. Alternatively, maybe Shawaryn will be the guy added to the roster with the idea of using Shawaryn as a relief pitcher.

Ty Buttrey is in the major leagues and has been more than serviceable in a small sample size: 5.1 IP, 6 K, 2 BB, 3 H, 0 ER. I agree with the idea of acquiring Kinsler, but why trade away a player in Buttrey who can help you this year? With the Red Sox bullpen imploding in August, the Red Sox could have used Buttrey's arm. Why not keep Buttrey and include a quality lower level prospect in the Kinsler trade? The inclusion of Buttrey was somewhat perplexing in that teams that are going for it typically don't trade away a piece that can contribute to the big league club right away. Now that Hembree, Barnes, and Kelly have all taken a bad turn, is there any Triple A depth that can help minimize the crisis in the big league bullpen or did Dombrowski trade that help away?

They are basically a Triple A club. What an embarrassment. If you're a Marlin fan, why would you bother spending a dime on this team? If the Marlins were my favorite team, I would either give up baseball or find another team to root for.

I know it is just a few games, but the Guardians do look really good. You wonder if they have been coasting a little bit, which would explain why they don't have more wins, but with the additions they made at the deadline (fixing the bullpen) along with playing with greater urgency when it is called for, maybe the Guardians are as good as any team in baseball.

All that Sandy Leon stuff is overblown, that he works so well with the pitchers, calls a great game, etc. How did things go tonight? Why couldn't Leon get a little more out of Eovaldi and the bullpen? Meanwhile, Leon's batting average is nearing the .200 mark and he has an OPS+ of 56. If the Red Sox didn't have so many talented pitchers, giving the illusion that Leon makes valuable contributions, he would be in Triple A right now as a back-up catcher. I would make Swihart my starting catcher in an effort to get more offense in the lineup.

Interesting. Shawaryn is getting some work from the bullpen. My guess: the Red Sox will add him to the 40 man roster and call him up in September where he will work from the bullpen. Next year, Shawaryn will continue his development as a starter and could be the guy who replaces Porcello in the rotation in 2020.

Agreed. I like this better than moving J.D. to the third spot. The Red Sox's top 4 offensive players are Mookie, Benintendi, Bogaerts, and Martinez, and so they should occupy the 1-4 spots in the order.

Catfish Hunter too. He had a HOF career but he retired early due to arm issues. David Clyde. Billy Martin ruined Mike Norris, Rick Langford, and a few others. More recently, Dusty Baker may have ruined the careers of Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. As far as Sale goes, he has a history of fading down the stretch. As such, why not change his regular routine, give him extra rest this time around and see if he can perform at a higher level in the final months. Last year, the Red Sox didn't give him extra rest and he failed to pitch at a high level in September and October. Thus, it makes perfect sense to try another method.

Easy. I want the Yankees in the division round. A rested Sale will be there for games 1 and 5. The Yankees will blow their best pitcher in the wild card game (probably Severino). Yankees fans should root for their team to lose in the wild card game to avoid being humiliated in the division round. I remember 2009, I was rooting for the Red Sox to advance, but part of me was very happy when they were eliminated by the Angels. The Red Sox would have lost to the Yankees in the next round--the Red Sox weren't as good as the Yankees that year--and I didn't want to see the Yankees beat them. Likewise, Yankees fans will be much happier if the Yankees lose to the A's rather than get humiliated (again) in the division round against the Red Sox. If the Red Sox and Yankees meet up in the playoffs, the Red Sox will face the Yankees with a 4 game head-to-head playoff winning streak. Of course, those 4 games go back to 2004, when the Yankees turned into the biggest choke artists and losers in the history of sports.

It sounds like they are saving his bullets for October. It makes more sense for Sale to get extra rest now than in mid-late September. Let's face it, if Chris Sale is dominant in October, the Red Sox should win a championship. With 10 game lead, it is all about getting ready for October baseball.

Do you think V.Guerrero Jr. has proven he can handle Double A pitching? He only hit .402 in Double A. He is currently in Triple A where he is hitting .353 at the age of 19 years old! I guess he will be in the major leagues sometime next year. Problem is, the Blue Jays might not surround him with sufficient talent at the major league level to win divisions. I guess he will be another Mike Trout, one of the best players in the league but on a so-so team. Looking at the Blue Jays farm system, they have a few other quality prospects, like Bo Bichette, but the system isn't loaded with talent. To win with Guerrero Jr., they will probably have to spend big money on free agent pitching. Are the Blue Jays prepared to do that?

I've thought about the following strategy. (1) Bogaerts plays out his final arbitration season with the Red Sox in 2019. The Red Sox let him leave via free agency (draft compensation). (2) The Red Sox trade Bradley Jr. after the 2018 season, move Mookie Betts to CF. I'm expecting the Red Sox to get a really good prospect for Bradley Jr. (3) The Red Sox let Kimbrel walk after 2018 (draft compensation) and sign a bridge closer, a guy like Z.Britton, to a one year pillow contract and he keeps the closer spot warm for D.Feltman. If Britton has a big year in 2019, the Red Sox can get draft compensation for Britton. ------so, in sum, the Red Sox will not give long term contracts to Bogaerts, Bradley Jr., or Kimbrel.----------- (4) Sign B.Harper to a long term contract. (5) CJ Chatman takes over for Bogaerts at SS in 2019. (6) With the addition of Harper, the Red Sox don't have to be concerned about JD Martinez opting out after the 2019 season. If he wants to opt out, let him opt out. No sweat. (7) I have the Red Sox signing Sale to a long term deal, but they will replace Porcello with a cost controlled young starter, e.g., Houck, Shawaryn. I don't know if such plans are economically feasible, maybe signing Sale, Harper, and Betts to long term deals will prove to be impossible. But I do have the Red Sox saving money by NOT signing Bogaerts (replaced by a cost controlled player), Bradley, Porcello (replaced by a cost-controlled player), and Kimbrel (eventually replaced by Feltman) to long term deals. This team would be a powerhouse in 2019 with Harper replacing Bradley Jr. in the lineup. Bogaerts is still a Red Sox in 2019. Porcello is still a Red Sox in 2019.

Shane Baz is the third (and final) player in the Chris Archer deal. At first, this looked like a pretty good deal for the Pirates, but with the inclusion of Baz, the advantage shifts to the Rays. The Rays now have several high upside SP prospects. Pretty impressive: http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2018?list=tb Sanchez and Franco are great prospects. Hernandez is a really nice catcher prospect. McClanahan is an interesting prospect too. The Rays could be really good in 3-4 years.

Nunez also has negative WAR along with an OPS+ of 77. The guy is a train wreck. I'm not thrilled with Devers, I thought he was a better player than this, but he is part of the future of the team and so you keep playing him unless you have a much better option and Nunez isn't a much better option. Also, Nunez has no future with the Red Sox. I like Holt better than Nunez, but I prefer Holt as that utility player who gives everyone a rest. He should return to that role when Kinsler returns. Edit: I would start Nunez at 3b against lefties. Devers can't hit lefties and while Nunez can't hit them very well either, I would limit Devers' exposure to lefty pitchers at this point.

I can't see them benching Devers when they have no one else to play at 3b. Nunez is the worst position player on the team--he can't be the replacement at 3b. The one good thing to come out of this loss: when Kinsler returns and the Red Sox go to a 12 man pitching staff, Pomeranz has to go. Put him on the DL, then rehab assignment, bring him back in September when the rosters expand. I wouldn't send down Brasier or Velazquez just to keep a loser like Pomeranz on the team.

Yeah, Boone's management of the bullpen was pretty weird last night. Maybe Cashman shouldn't have traded away Chasen Shreve, that would have been the lefty for the Mets LHBs. Shreve is nothing great, of course, but he might be more useful than AJ Cole.

He is out of options. The only alternative was to deactivate him and, yeah, resign him when he clears waivers. Butler is a decent defensive catcher but he has never been able to hit. Still, he provides decent depth that you can stash away at the AAA level.

I thought he would be dealt at the trade deadline prior to his Double A promotion. I'm not so sure Dombrowski will move him in the off-season now that Dalbec is having so much success in Double A. If Dalbec continues to tear up Double A, his value greatly increases. The other thing worth noting is that Dombrowski has been more open to trading Cherrington's prospects and not his own. For the most part, Dombrowski has held on to the prospects that came into the organization under his watch. The one notable exception to this was the trade of Shaun Anderson.

It sounds like Kinsler might not be returning on Tuesday. I read that he was returning on Tuesday on soxprospects.com, but I should have double-checked the info -- soxprospects doesn't know what they are talking about half the time.

The corresponding move: Butler will be sent down. On Tuesday, Kinsler is expected to be activated and the Red Sox are expected to go with one less pitcher. There are three possible moves to make room for Kinsler: (1) Pomeranz is released or placed on DL; (2) Velazquez is sent down; (3) Brasier is sent down. I'm guessing that Velazquez is sent down, but I would DL Pomeranz for the purpose of transitioning him to a relief role in a rehab stint, and then bring him back as a reliever in September. The Red Sox are already making that transition at the major league level, but I would rather keep Velazquez with the big club. I have more confidence in Velazquez than Pomeranz.

I think the idea is to make ERod (or Price) a dominant one or two inning reliever, kind of like Andrew Miller, and have ERod (or Price) pitch in some key late inning spots in the playoffs. I don't like the idea of using ERod as a long reliever. Instead, I want to capitalize on his potential to dominate in shorter stints. It'll be interesting to see how the Red Sox handle this. When Erod returns, the Red Sox will have 5 really good options for four playoff rotation spots. Due to injury, and potentially dominant stuff in shorter stints, ERod does seem to be the logical choice right now to move to the pen. Even though Price is on a roll, I still don't trust him in October, however.

If the Red Sox can maintain a sizeable lead they can start using Bobby Poyner, Robby Scott, Haley, and Cuevas in key relief situations in September, and give the regular relievers some rest. What do you think of the idea of adding Travis Lakins to the 40 man roster so that he can get some work (and experience) in the major leagues in September? They can easily create an open spot on the 40 man roster.

An informative article that focuses on Northcut, but also mentions Casas and Decker. Dombrowski is really good at finding talent and rebuilding the farm system. When John Henry hired Dombrowski, he talked about his ability to find young talent and I think we are beginning to see that.

My guess is this: today was Johnson's throw day and the Red Sox told him to hold off and save his throw day for the game--they would need an inning out of him due to yesterday's double hitter. So, I'm assuming he is still starting on Tuesday.

Dalbec has been incredible. The Red Sox might have something special on their hands. Some prospects do this--they just break out. The other nice thing about Dalbec is his improved defense--he should remain at 3b. When he came into the system, there was some question concerning his defense and if he would need to move to 1b. Dalbec could be the future starter at 3b for the Red Sox with Devers moving to 1b. Of course, the Red Sox have Ockimey too. The farm system is starting to turn itself around--nice! I'm hoping for big developmental steps from Groome and Casas over the next few minor league seasons.