Fan_since_Boggs

He is definitely an interesting guy--marches to the beat of his own drum. Money doesn't seem to be the top priority--perhaps he is a religious guy and, unlike most Americans, isn't obsessed with material things. I can understand the appeal of the West Coast--significant difference in flight times. I'll be rooting for him. He is a unique athlete and seems to have a brain as well. In professional baseball, that is pretty rare. Pretty funny with the Yankees trying to acquire more and more money for international bonus in order to sign Otani. It looks like Cashman misjudged the situation.

1b: Santana 2b: M.Hernandez/Quiroz SS: Bogaerts (will be replaced by Machado in 2019) 3B: Devers LF: Benintendi CF: Bradley RF: Betts DH: Duda/Ramirez platoon I've changed my mind on Santana. Sure, he is a few years older than Hosmer and Martinez, but you can also sign him for less money, saving resources for Machado. I also like his patience at the plate and his defense was excellent last year. Another interesting move would be Moustakas for 3b, move Devers to 1b especially if the Red Sox don't believe Devers can stay at 3b long term. In this scenario, the Red Sox would sign Moustakas over Santana.

I don't know. I like his profile as a pitcher, but we know so much can go wrong there. The fact that he wants to hit, and expects to be in the lineup, at the end of the day this guy might end up being a headache for the team that signs him.

Thank you, Joe Morgan. This will hopefully keep Bonds and Clemons out. http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/21502885/joe-morgan-asks-voters-block-ped-users-baseball-hall-fame The HOF needs to pass a rule: if evidence surfaces that a HOF took PEDs, the HOF should be able to take executive action of some sort and immediately remove that player from the HOF. The fear is that conclusive evidence will surface of PED use by guys like Piazza, Bagwell, and Ivan Rodriguez. If that happens, you remove that player from the Hall. It's that simple. It'll be interesting to see the % of vote that Bonds and Clemons receive this year. I think their support will go down. That will be a bad sign for drug addicts like Manny and A-Rod.

I think you DH JD Martinez and look for a platoon partner for Hanley at 1b. That would keep Hanley's option from vesting. I want the Red Sox to sign Machado next year for SS. I don't want Hanley's contract to get in the way of paying Machado. I would keep away from Santana. I don't like his body and he is a little older than JD Martinez. Wow, he is much older, he played at Woodstock before JD Martinez was ever born.

For a period of time, Dale Murphy was one of the most dominant players in the game. I'm not sure if I see the argument for letting Jim Rice in but not Dale Murphy. If you let Phil Rizzuto in, you probably need to let Trammel in as well. With that said, Rizzuto never should have made the HOF and I'm not sold on Trammel either, not enough offensive output. Take away Trammel's 1987 season and there isn't enough power numbers or high batting averages for me. He was great in 1987 but I may need a few more seasons like that one before letting him in.

LOL. I forgot about I.Thomas. It is virtually impossible to be worse than I.Thomas but I will say that Jeter will be closer to I.Thomas than J.Elway. I'll predict that the Marlins owner, the guy with the controlling share of the organization, will dump Jeter in a few years when he realizes Jeter doesn't know what he is doing. This will be fun to watch. I feel bad for Marlins fans, though.

I wouldn't call A-Rod the greatest SS to ever play the game since we are basically talking about an admitted PED user, drug addict, a guy whose numbers were significantly inflated due to cheating. There is speculation that A-Rod may have started juicing in high school. To be sure, we know that A-Rod was juicing with the Rangers (that he admits). But, yeah, I don't have a high opinion of Jeter. Sure, he is a first ballot Hall of Famer, a great player, but he was always stupid -- as dumb as a rock. Jeter never had anything to say, never had the brains to say anything interesting or intelligent. I'm pretty convinced Jeter will run the Marlins into the ground. Thus, he is no John Elway, a HOF player who brought his team to the pinnacle of success as a front office executive.

They are also assuming that the Red Sox are perfectly content to play Benintendi in CF. A big assumption that may be false. They could also move M.Betts to CF, but that would create a defensive problem in RF. I think the Red Sox are going to bring back the same OF. The big addition will be Hosmer to play 1b. I'm not saying I agree with that move, but I do think that is the move Dombrowski will make.

Margot was more expendable than Moncada and Kopech. If Dombrowki can find another way to get a closer, it is possible that Margot could have been included in the White Sox deal for Sale, allowing the Red Sox to keep either Moncada or Kopech. In trading all of this talent, Dombrowski decided to play a game of high risk poker. If he doesn't win a World Series over the next few seasons, he will look like a total fool.

I think this question has already been answered. The thing is, you can always find an OF, I can live without Margot, but Moncada's loss will likely hurt the team starting next season and his loss could be felt for the next 5 years if they can't find another 2b, which isn't always easy to do. I don't think Kopech would make the starting rotation next year out of spring training, but he should be ready sometime next season and he will definitely be ready by 2019. I like the A.Rizzo-A.Gonzalez comparison. It took Rizzo a few seasons (after being traded) to surpass Gonzalez as a player; likewise, I think Kopech will surpass C.Sale in a few years. In addition, the fact that Sale burns out in the last month of the season can't be a good sign for his future and long term durability. If we took back the trades, the Red Sox wouldn't have Sale or Kimbrel and thus wouldn't make the playoffs in 2017, BUT they would be eminently stronger going into the future with a power bat at 2b (Moncada), a potential dominant ace in the rotation (Kopech), a quality young OF in Margot, and Travis Shaw at 1b. This is why I believe Dombrowski will be remembered pretty much as a disgrace in Red Sox history. Henry will probably fire him in a few years when he begins to see how bad some of Dombrowski's trades were for the organization. I don't know how much longer Pedroia can play 2b. Perhaps he will spend one or two years as a DH. He is at an age when a player's defense typically declines and the injury will likely expedite that process. If Pedroia is going to hurt the Red Sox's infield defense over the next few years, it won't make sense to trot him out there--DH would be a better spot.

Do we even know that the Red Sox are willing to play Benintendi in CF? If I had to guess the Red Sox starting nine next year, I would go with: 1b) Hosmer (I'm not supporting this, just saying that the rumors have been pretty clear about the Red Sox's interest). 2b) M.Hernandez (with the C.Sale for Kopech/Moncada trade, 2b will likely be a position of weakness for the Red Sox for years to come. Thanks, Dave). SS) Bogaerts 3b) Devers LF) Benintendi CF) Bradley RF) Betts C) Vazquez DH) Hanley Bench: Swihart (I think he is the backup C in 2018). Brentz Marrero (good friends with Hosmer, the Red Sox main target, it appears). Holt??? (He might not make the final 25 man roster. The Red Sox might puruse a DH/1b type instead, another bat who can DH from time to time and give them a little extra thump). When Pedroia returns, he could go to DH rather than 2b.

It is good to see the Red Sox add Brentz to the 40 man but it should have been done during the regular season: it was clear that Young was all washed up and that Brentz deserved his roster spot. Brentz should give the Red Sox some extra power against LHP. A good move, but made way too late.

I always thought Girardi was pretty analytical, though. The way he ran the bullpen, relying heavily on stats (rather than his gut) when making decisions. The Yankees were constantly using infield shifts, etc. It was a curious move. Most importantly, Girardi is a good manager and I wonder if Cashman let his so-so relationship with Girardi get in the way of making the best baseball move, which would have been to bring back Girardi. Cashman has done some good things, but he also makes his fair share of mistakes. I think the Yankees will regret letting Girardi go--this will not end well for Cashman.

Maybe the Red Sox's next GM will come from the Astros organization. I would love to see that, the sooner the better.

Perhaps there is a compromise--the Marlins aren't expecting multiple elite prospects for Stanton but might expect ONE elite prospect for Stanton. It is worth noting that the Red Sox don't even have one elite prospect to offer the Marlins unless they are willing to move Devers. I wonder if the Dodgers would be interested in Stanton? Sure, they have Puig in RF, but they don't have a big time starting LF. I could see the Dodgers wanting to do something pretty big in the off-season after losing the World Series. If the Dodgers want him, they could get him. They have the prospects, they have the money, and I believe Stanton grew up in California. If the Dodgers want him, I don't see how the Red Sox could even compete with a Dodgers offer.

The Infield defense would be brutal, though. I'm assuming Hanley at 1b (with Martinez at DH), Chavis at 2b, Bogaerts at SS, and Devers at 3b. Could be the worst infield defense in the AL. I would rather go with Lin at 2b, Chavis at 1b, Hanley to part time player.

It makes sense--the Giants need him, but they have a pretty weak farm system too. If Stanton costs one blue chip prospect, I'm not sure how the Giants acquire him. The Giants will have either the first or second pick in the 2018 draft but it'll obviously be too late at that point.

I'm in general agreement. I'm assuming the Marlins will want one top notch prospect at least and the Red Sox don't have that. They would have to surrender either Devers or Benintendi but that kind of trade doesn't work for the Red Sox. Maybe Bradley Jr. to another team for a prospect and then trade that prospect to the Marlins? That would be the Red Sox's best hope IMO. Overall, the Red Sox are limited in what they can do since Dombrowski already drained the farm system of top prospects. I also don't believe that Bogaerts has significant trade value at this time. The fact that Red Sox fans would like to ship out Bogaerts pretty much tells the whole story on his declining trade value. I wouldn't give up valuable prospects for Stanton anyway, not when the Red Sox can get Machado in next year's free agency. Dombrowski has already tried the approach of trading the kids for established stars and it hasn't worked thus far. The established stars he traded for, Sale and Kimbrel, were responsible for the Red Sox's exit in the 2017 playoffs. Brilliant.

I'm not going to go on and on about how much I hate the C.Sale trade, but, boy, do I hate that trade. If we don't make it, we add power to the lineup at 2b with Moncada (I think he will be a 30-30 player with a ton of strikeouts) and Kopech is one of he best SP prospects in the game. I know C.Sale was great and the Red Sox don't win the division without him, but he was brought here to do more than win the division--he was brought here to help in October and he totally failed in that regard. In addition, it will take a few years, but just like you expected A.Rizzo to eventually surpass A.Gonzalez as a player, I would expect Kopech to be a better SP than Sale in a few seasons. That's when the trade will really hurt.

I'm looking at his minor league numbers too and I don't see the production to warrant elite prospect status. Based on his mediocre minor league numbers, I wasn't surprised to see Frazier suck crap at the major league level. The Guardians saw the production wasn't there and unloaded him as soon as they could. Cashman took the bait and gave away one of the best relief pitchers in the process.

The jury is still out but I don't like what I've seen so far. Frazier in particular hasn't produced significant enough offensive numbers in the minor leagues. I don't see the production. The production doesn't match the hype. His dreadful rookie campaign reinforced my opinion on Frazier. There isn't a contradiction in the statement, "I'm not high on this prospect, but the jury is still out (meaning my assessment could be wrong)." Any prospect analysis should come with that kind of qualification even for someone like Keith Law or the best scout in major league baseball. Look at your first round picks, how many become really good players? The percentage is pretty low and yet professional scouts pick those players, give them a lot of money, believing they are great talents. Keith Law gets things wrong all the time. The best scout in major league baseball gets prospects wrong all the time. We all do. But it is fun to analyze a player and express your opinion on that player. A person should be able to do that without being called a troll.

I'm not trolling. The accusation makes you the troll. You seem to think that every Yankees prospect is going to flourish and be great. But so many prospects don't make it even after getting "big time reviews." I'm not high on Frazier and Sheffield--never liked either prospect. Deal with dissenting views. I have Sheffield as a bottom of the rotation starter and Frazier as a platoon bat, but you can find players like that in free agency. I'm open to the possibility that the Yankees will win the trade long term, but I don't think that will happen and Miller in 2017 was a better (and more valuable) player than Frazier, who was absolute garbage.

In 2017, Bogaerts had a 95 OPS+ and was below average in the field for a second year in a row. Sure, he has value, but his trade value is going to be impacted by his 2017 season. In general, major league teams don't like trading for players who are trending downwards. He could have a big comeback season; or he could be even worse in 2018. It is fair to assume that his trade value has been impacted by his 2017 season. I wouldn't do it. This isn't the time to trade Bogaerts--the return won't be there.

It was definitely a short term loss for the Yankees in that they would have been a better team this year if they had Miller instead of Sheffield (minor leagues) and Frazier (an awful debut, a -0.4 WAR and he couldn't hit--an 84 OPS+). But like any deal, you have to evaluate it long term. The jury is still out, but I'm not high on Frazier or Sheffield, I think the Guardians basically acquired Miller for free. We shall see.....but there is no doubt that the Yankees would have been a better team THIS YEAR with Andrew Miller than Clint Frazier, a guy who wasn't ready for the major leagues and may never be ready.