Fan_since_Boggs

I agree, my offer doesn't get it done. Nevertheless, I would like to see the Red Sox draw a line in the sand and then move on. There is only so much that I'm willing to give up for a guy who has experienced a decline in velocity and has a violent delivery.

I would be willing to trade J.Bradley for Sale, but I wouldn't be willing to include Moncada in the deal (I would include one or two lesser prospects but not Devers, Kopech, or Groome). I would trade Moncada for Sale but I wouldn't include J.Bradley in the deal (I would include one or two lesser prospects but not Devers, Kopech, or Groome). Starting pitchers are so fragile, we already know that Sale has experienced a decline in velocity, a warning sign. If the Red Sox overpay for Sale, and then something goes wrong with him, the mistake could affect the Red Sox organization for years. In retrospect, if DD didn't overpay for Kimbrel (a trade I didn't agree with) and didn't trade for Pomeranz, who didn't help the Red Sox at all (an ERA+ of 100), the Red Sox would have the assets to acquire Sale: build a trade around Espinoza and Margot. Thus far DD has not exactly impressed with his decisions on the trade market.

I totally support this idea. This is probably my first choice to replace Ortiz, since I don't want to give up the draft pick for Encarncion.

I didn't want Beltran--I'm happy to see him sign elsewhere. He will play most of next season at age 40, an age where very few hitters produce at a high level.

He would be an everyday player against RHP. He would occasionally sit against lefties. He would DH at times but also play the OF, with the other outfielders rotating in and out of the DH spot. I prefer Rasmus to Beltran, who can't play the field and could be ready to fall off a cliff due to his age.

Chris Carter is an interesting candidate for the DH spot (or 1b, moving Hanley to DH). http://www.brewcrewball.com/2016/11/28/13772290/report-brewers-to-non-tender-chris-carter-arbitration The guy has tremendous power, but strikes out a lot. He walks, nice walk rate last season. You could do worse than Carter's 2016 OPS+ of 114. I wonder how his hit chart would play in Fenway Park? Perhaps the Park would augment his batting average. A two year deal might get it done; he will be paid considerably less than Edwin Encarncion. He won't cost a draft pick. He is young enough at 29.

I doubt E-Rod has reached his ceiling. Sale has reached his ceiling, and his decline in velocity, along with his violent delivery, might suggest a future decline in production, if not something more. So, I don't see a production crisscrossing as an impossible scenario, but I wouldn't expect it to occur in 2017. E-Rod has way too much talent, and upside, for me to include him in a trade for Sale along with Bradley Jr and Moncada. The Schilling trade had an interesting story behind it. The Diamondbacks owners needed to move the contract. He took out loans to pay for Randy Johnson and Schilling's contracts and needed economic relief. The Yankees were involved in the trade talks too but they ended up signing Vazquez. The Red Sox were able to acquire Schilling without giving up a fair return due to the economics. I don't think that would happen today--the small market teams plan better or have more resources and thus aren't as compelled to trade a player without getting a fair return for that player.

Maybe so, but I wouldn't want the Red Sox to make that trade. At some point, over the next several years, Rodriguez could surpass Sale as the better pitcher, kind of like how A.Rizzo eventually surpassed A.Gonzalez as the better player.

Bradley, Pomeranz, and Swihart for deGrom, Bruce, and a prospect. In turn, the Red Sox sign C.Rasmus to platoon with C.Young in LF. I think that deal is reasonably fair, and make sense to a certain extent, but I also think Boggs is right: the Mets are unlikely to trade deGrom or any of their top 4 starters.

The White Sox would do this; I wouldn't want the Red Sox to make this trade. If I'm including Bradley, I'm unwilling to add one of the best prospects in baseball to the trade. I'll include some other pieces along with Bradley but not Moncada. There is talk that the Mets would trade J.Bruce if they resign Cespedes. I wonder if the Red Sox would have an interest in Bruce? The Red Sox and Mets match up pretty well for a trade especially if the Mets would be willing to expand the trade to include an SP. I presume the Mets would be interested in Bradley as well as Swihart. I would only include Bradley in a trade for an SP.

A decline in velocity might also explain why the White Sox are interested in moving Sale. Trade him now while his trade value is sky high. In one or two years, his trade value might be half of what it is today.

The 2009 Yankees had three starters with an ERA+ over 110: Sabathia, Burnett, and Pettitte, meaning that Peavy would be a bottom of the rotation starter on that staff (a fourth or fifth guy, not a third guy). I'll eventually go through some of the others. I was thinking of the 2016 Cubs as well. Even their fourth starter, Lackey, had an ERA+ of 120. The 2013 Red Sox have three pitchers with ERA+ over 110: Lester, Lackey, and Buchholz. However, Buchholz threw a little over 100 innings that year. Nevertheless, when the playoffs started, Peavy was arguably the 4th starter on the staff, not the third. The 2004 Red Sox have three pitchers with ERA+ over 110: Schilling, Pedro, Arroyo. Peavy would be battling Wakefield and Lowe for the 4th and 5th spots in the rotation. The 2007 Red Sox have two pitchers with an ERA+ over 110: Beckett and Schilling. Dice-K (the third starter) had an ERA+ of 108, better than average, but a little closer to the league average ERA+ mark of 100.

I'm not sure if championship teams typically have a league average pitcher as a number 3 starter. Maybe they sometimes do, but I would think it is more the exception than the rule. In the eyes of the Red Sox, Peavy probably had a floor (league average pitcher) and a ceiling (exceptional). His ceiling was his 2012 season. The Red Sox got the floor instead. But you're right: a league average pitcher has value. And while Peavy's overall postseason numbers were pretty bad, he did come through in that start against the Rays.

His ERA+ was 102 with the Red Sox. That is barely above league average. When the Red Sox traded for Peavy, I presume they were hoping for something more than a league average pitcher. Peavy was coming off a strong 2012 season--an ERA+ of 126--and some people were hoping the 2012 Peavy would show up in Boston. That didn't happen--he was a disappointment in that regard.

I'm not sure if this has been noted already, but the Red Sox also traded F.Montas in the Iglesias trade. In sum: At the time, I thought the Red Sox may have sold low on Iglesias. His bat was a question mark but his glove was so good that maybe the Red Sox could have gotten more for him. I was never a big Peavy fan, and he didn't pitch particularly well for the Red Sox. I think the Red Sox win the division that year even without trading for Peavy. With that said, in the playoffs, Peavy pitched well in game 4 against the Rays. If he doesn't pitch well there, maybe the series goes to 5 games and anything can happen in a deciding game 5. http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/2013_ALDS1.shtml Peavy did not pitch well aganst the Tigers (game 4) in the ALCS. http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/2013_ALCS.shtml Peavy did not pitch well against the Cardinals (game 3) in the World Series. The Red Sox won the series in 6 games; interestingly, if the series went to a 7th game, Peavy would have started that game. We can only speculate.... http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/2013_WS.shtml We have to give Peavy some credit for his game 4 start against the Rays, an important game--his greatest moment with the Red Sox.

I would essentially platoon Rasmus and Young at DH. But since Rasmus is a good defensive player, he would get work in the OF, rotating with Benintendi, Bradley, and Betts from the OF to the DH spot, an intangible benefit of having a DH who can also play the field. I suppose the Red Sox could do the same with Beltran, but Beltran would weaken the Red Sox's run prevention whenever he plays left or right field.

How about Colby Rasmus? He didn't have a strong season last year with the bat. The Red Sox could maybe sign him to a one year show me contract, reasonably inexpensive. I prefer Rasmus over Beltran for a few reasons. (1) Beltran is much older--his stats declined last year when he was traded to the Rangers. (2) Beltran can't field; Rasmus is a strong defensive player. (3) Rasmus isn't a DH, giving the Red Sox more roster flexibility. The Red Sox could rotate players in and out of the DH spot, keeping guys fresh and healthy.

There is greater risk but also greater reward. It's not like the Red Sox would be trading a high upside talent like Moncada for Wheeler. Instead, the trade would involve Swihart, who has some offensive ability but doesn't profile as a unique or special offensive player. And so the downside risk is minimal overall. I like Wheeler's upside. He is recovering form Tommy John, not from shoulder surgery, and we know that most pitchers make it back from Tommy John, though it does take some time. We also know that Wheeler has electric stuff, strikeout stuff, the kind of stuff that misses bats, the kind of stuff that can win a big game in the playoffs in October. Speaking of risks. I was watching MLB today and a guy from Fangraphs mentioned that Sale's strikeouts and velocity were down last year. Even though I've wanted Sale, I don't think I would meet the high asking price. The White Sox will want Moncada or Benintendi, along with Kopech (probably), and I'm not willing to give up such great assets for Sale. The decline in Sale's velocity is worrisome. Sale has a violent delivery that puts a lot of stress/strain on his arm.....

Notin: I think Harmony hit the nail on the head. I'm giving up Owens, who has limited trade value and upside--he isn't much of a prospect anymore. Many questions surround Swihart. Is he good enough defensively to stick at catcher? Is he going to hit enough to overcome his defensive limitations at catcher (small sample size but his numbers at AAA last season were not encouraging)? Is he going to hit enough to play LF? Essentially, the Red Sox and Mets would be exchanging lottery tickets, but the Mets might prefer a catcher lottery ticket while the Red Sox might prefer a SP. Obviously, the Red Sox would need to examine Wheeler's medicals before agreeing to a trade. In terms of upside, I would rank Wheeler higher than Swihart and Owens, but some people probably see more upside in Swihart than Wheeler.

While the Mets aren't giving up on d'Arnaud, they aren't locked into him either and did try to upgrade the position at the trade deadline last season. Swihart and Owens to the Mets for Wheeler and something else. The Red Sox could ask for a prospect as the "something else" or a position player on the 40 man. The Mets would probably like to unload C.Granderson, who could DH for one season in Boston. I'm not sure about L.Duda's health prognostication, or the value the Mets place on him, but a healthy Duda could DH in Boston. Wheeler would start the year in AAA. Slowly build up his innings, unleash him in the second half.

Was Sandoval's injury (that ended his 2016 season) a factor in 2015? If YES, then the guy simply hasn't been healthy and should rebound when he regains his health. If NO, then we are looking at a player who had one miserable season with the Red Sox, which sometimes happens. One bad season doesn't necessarily mean that he doesn't have some good years in front of him.

I would like to sign R.Hill but I guess there is no room for him and he is an injury prone pitcher. I presume this will be the Red Sox's starting staff next year: D.Price R.Porcello D.Pomeranz S.Wright E.Rodriguez With Buchholz in the bullpen (and the 6th starter). Johnson and Owens in AAA. I would be surprised to see Buchholz in the rotation over Wright. Wright earned a rotation spot based on his 2016 performance and will likely be in a Red Sox uniform for a longer duration than Buchholz who is set to be a free agent after the 2017 season. And Buchholz pretty much took a crap in the bed when the Red Sox needed him to come up big in the postseason. I would have been tempted to decline Buchholz's option and then sign R.Hill to a 2 or 3 year contract. On the other hand, the Red Sox already have 3 lefties in the starting rotation.

From another thread: I don't think this is a crazy idea at all. The Red Sox still owe him a lot of money and will try to get some value out the contract. With Ortiz gone, the Red Sox could use the extra LHB (Sandoval is better from the left side). Moreover, with Moncada in the minors, they have a back up plan just in case Sandoval doesn't perform next season. I think Sandoval will be given a half season to prove he belongs as the starter at 3b. As far as Shaw goes, he obviously declined after a hot start. He probably isn't the real deal. He is a nice depth piece, or a possible trade piece, but Farrell didn't show a lot of confidence in Shaw when he replaced him with the Holt/Hill platoon.

As far as rooting interests go, I've been pulling for the Guardians ever since they eliminated the Red Sox. (1) I like Francona. (2) They haven't won in so long. I've been rooting against the Cubs throughout the playoffs. (1) Theo left us with Carl Crawford. (2) I don't like how Theo treated R.Renteria when Maddon become available. (3) I don't like Joe Maddon. (4) Baseball needs lovable losers like the Cubs. This Guardians team could be really good over the next few years, maybe even a dynasty? They have the starting pitching to win again. Miller is signed for one or two more years. They have arguably the best young SS in the game. They have a HOF manager. That's a pretty nice foundation.

Need some help here. Assuming the Guardians go on to win, Francona will have won championships (as manager) with two different teams. Whitey Herzog never did that. Billy Martin never did that. Joe Torre never did that. Earl Weaver never did that. Bruce Bochy hasn't done that. I could only think of one manager who has done this--he did it with the A's and Cardinals: Tony LaRussa. Has anyone else done this besides LaRussa? EDIT: OK, Sparky Anderson with the Reds and Tigers. I forgot about him. Anyone else or is that it?