Fan_since_Boggs

He did. Interestingly, so did Cashman. Cashman is so cheap with his prospects. He had a chance to get Cole in the offseason and only offered the crappy C.Adams and bust C.Frazier. Of course, the Pirates turned down the trade. Maybe if Cashman offered something fair like Sheffield and Andujar he could have acquired Cole. Stupid Cashman--if he can't squeeze a team to death, he doesn't make the deal. The Astros have a better front office than the Yankees and Red Sox IMO. As long as Price stays healthy, the Yankees are more desperate for a SP than the Red Sox. Moreover, the Red Sox have J.Beeks in AAA, a guy who is ready for the major leagues.

LOL LF: Benintendi CF: Betts RF: Harper That would be some outfield. Maybe the Red Sox greatest OF of all time. With Martinez in the DH spot. I'm also saving money on Bogaerts, not signing him long term; I'm letting him leave via free agent after the 2019 season. He will be replaced by dark horse prospect CJ Chatman. Combined long term contracts for Kimbrell and Bogaerts will total something near 200 million I presume. I would rather invest that money in Harper.

My dream is intact: Benintendi could be the second coming of George Brett. That would be sweet. At the beginning of the season, with Benintendi struggling, the comp was reduced to Ken Griffey Sr., not bad, but not as great as Brett.

Since my plan for the Red Sox involves B.Harper in RF next year, with Mookie moving to CF, and trade J.Bradley, I need to save money and so I'm not resigning Kimbrell who will want 75-100 million. Joe Kelly gets the first shot at the closer role.

Agreed; by all statistical measures, Hanley was a bad baseball player and bad baseball players get released, option or not. The Red Sox have the autonomy to release bad baseball players, option or not. Hanley has no legitimate grievance claim here. If he had an OPS+ of 130 and was leading the league in HRs, he has a claim, but he wasn't doing that, not even close.

Marco Hernandez is talented and could put up some decent numbes if he could only stay healthy. But maybe he will be one of those guys who never stays healthy, kind of like Nick Johnson of the Yankees from a few years back.

Hanley's early season success was more of an anomaly than his slump. If the Red Sox believed that Hanley's early season success was legit, maybe they ride out his slump. Instead, they probably believed his early season success was the result of an inflated BABIP. As his BABIP normalized, his numbers sank. He was headed for another unproductive season, another OPS+ south of 100. That's where Hanley's OPS+ has been in 3 of the last 4 seasons. He gave the Red Sox a large sample size of sucking.

This is about as bad as it gets. The tragedy of D.Flores; TJ surgery for Groome; and Michael Chavis is a PED addict. Just about all of the pitchers have disappointed rather than take a step forward (led by Tanner Houk). On the positive side, J.Beeks has performed well--he should be able to help the Red Sox this year in some capacity. CJ Chatman has stayed healthy and is producing. His big test will occur when he is promoted to AA, probably later in the year. If Chatman can develop into a quality major league SS, the Red Sox can avoid paying Bogaerts 15-20 million per year. Also, maybe Shawaryn has raised his ceiling to that of a middle of the rotation starter. If Beeks and Shawaryn can develop into quality middle of the rotation starters and if Chatman can develop into a starting caliber major league SS, that's three players who can contribute to the Red Sox future while being cost effective and allowing the Red Sox to use resources elsewhere. While Chavis' career is likely over, built on PEDs (he probably isn't any good without them), Groome will be back next year and will hopefully get back on track as a top prospect.

I'm keeping my eye on CJ Chatman. There is a chance he could be the Red Sox's starting SS in 2020.

I would move him to the bullpen. The hope is that he can develop into a one inning shutdown reliever, which is more valuable than a 5th starter who is learning how to pitch with decreased velocity.

That's the one team I was thinking about. Problem is, I doubt they can carry both Hanley and Gattis on the same roster and there is no good reason to dump Gattis from the roster to make room for Hanley.

It is amazing how little they have missed Hanley so far. When you have a WAR of 0 (approximately), an OPS+ of 88, and you can't run or field, that kind of player doesn't belong in the major leagues anyway. Hanley will be hard pressed to find a team willing to add him to the roster at league minimum. Maybe some team gives him a shot, but if he doesn't produce right away, he is probably released again.

The Red Sox gave Hanley every opportunity to produce and earn that option. He failed to hit and his hot April was mostly a mirage (inflated BABIP). Pedroia was returning, they had to make a move, and Hanley is about as useless as a player can be. And so the Red Sox dumped their weakest position player to make room for Pedroia. Made sense.

Reading this makes me appreciate Dave Dombrowski more. I remember this specific offseason. Cherrington also screwed up with the starting staff--he went into the season with a weak starting staff. I remember being troubled by that more than the Sandoval and Hanley signings.

But there is no net loss in that, against lefties, Pedroia will be in the lineup instead of Hanley. But I guess you could argue that if you keep Hanley, you keep his bat in the lineup against lefties along with Pedroia's bat. But then you are operating on the assumption that Hanley's numbers against lefties this year are something more than BABIP driven. He hasn't hit for power against lefties this year. Even if you lose a little offense against lefties without Hanley, you gain in other ways: better baserunning, more flexibility defensively, better defense.

It feels great to have Hanley off this team, like the plague has been lifted. We don't have to worry about that option anymore and he wasn't helping the team this year. His loss means nothing. He has been a terrible player for 3 out of 4 years in Boston. He had one good year with the Red Sox--that was it.

He will have a hard enough time finding a job in the majors for league minimum. The guy sucks. I can't picture a national league team having any interest in him. . . .

Or Nunez could play 1b against a lefty now that Pedroia has returned. Pedroia will probably get days off here and there but not against any lefties. I also wonder if the Red Sox are thinking about using Pedroia in the DH spot from time to time. In that scenario, against a LHP, you would take Benintenti or Bradley out, put Martinez in LF, and you have opened up the DH spot for Pedroia. In this scenario, maybe you do play Swihart at 1b. lineup Against LHP: Betts: RF Nunez 2b Pedroia DH Martinez LF Bogaerts SS Devers 3b Swihart 1b Vazquez C Bradley CF

YES, I'm so happy and proud of my post from yesterday. Dombrowski must have read it. LOL.

Moreland has fairly won the starting job at 1b. You could keep Hanley on the roster and play him against lefties. On the other hand, when Pedroia returns, someone has to go. Aging 1b/DH types who aren't hitting (and haven't hit in 3 of the last 4 seasons including this one), don't run the bases well, and can't field, don't deserve special treatment. The Red Sox have already paid Hanley a fortune for limited, very limited production. I'm inclined to think that a clean break is the best way to go. Does Hanley really help you very much as a bench piece? He can't play anywhere, he can't run. I guess he might have some value against LHP, but can they find someone who can provide that value and a few other things? Probably.

Hanley's OPS+ is now 93. What was his OPS+ last year?....... Yep, 93 Hanley has been a s*** player for the Red Sox. They only got one good year out of him--2016. 2015 OPS+ 89 2016 OPS+ 126 2017 OPS+ 93 2018 OPS+ 93 If the 2016 version of Hanley showed up this year, you let the option vest. Instead, we are getting the 2015 and 2017 version.

I supported that position too. Release him in the off-season and bring in another player--the market cost for free agents was in their favor. Hanley was a sunk cost either way and you can't let that option vest. They may have been counting on Chavis, thinking that if Hanley stinks up the joint, they would release him during the season, thus creating an opportunity for Chavis. Obviously, that plan is now dead in the water. By the way, one of the first baseball seasons I remember was 1986. Living in New York, I remember the Mets released George Foster and replaced him with Kevin Mitchel. Of course, as we know (painfully) the Mets went on to win the W.S. that year. The Red Sox could release Hanley without it harming their W.S. chances. By all statistical measures, he is a replacement level player. I get that he might provide some leadership in the locker room, but Pedroia could take on a larger role in that regard. When Pedroia is ready to return, I'm releasing Hanley.

Hold it, correct me if I'm wrong, Hanley needs 497 PA and he currently has 187. I wouldn't call that "almost." He still isn't half way there.

So the Red Sox are going to let the option vest? Hanley now has an OPS+ of 97, AND THUS, he is a below average offensive player. His WAR is basically 0, meaning they could release him and it wouldn't matter. He had a great April (an inflated BABIP) but looks washed up in May. I like the idea of releasing Hanley when you activate Pedroia. Moreland becomes the every day 1B. Nunez essentially takes on Moreland's bench role with Pedroia at 2b. Nunez and Swihart get practice reps at 1b. Against lefties, Nunez probably plays 1b and Moreland sits. They can't let his option vest, right?

Teixeira had some interesting things to say. You get the feeling he knew about it all along. Maybe he was in the Yankees clubhouse one day when he saw A-Roid stick a needle in Cano's butt: http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23534120/ex-teammate-mark-teixeira-not-surprised-suspension-seattle-mariners-robinson-cano