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Or imagine if he played LF? he'd be getting Giancarlo Stanton money. Or perhaps...Manny Ramirez money.

You have to think JDM can stay healthy as a full-time DH. I almost want to give him a 1B glove if he's ever going to play in the field during interleague games. I don't know how good I feel about benching Betts, JBJ, or Benintendi in favor of JDM lumbering around and pulling something out there.

Two thoughts. It seems to me that more often than not when a guy starts tinkering with his swing it ends up disastrous. I remember Garrin Cecchini doing that years ago because the knock was his swing was level and he didn't have the power to justify being a MLB player. Sometimes it's hard to change the mechanics that got you to where you are and have the same level of success on the worlds biggest stage. I'm sure it can be done, and if Travis has it in him he could be a monster.

Baseball Inflation (player salary wise) is about 3-4 X that of the broader U.S. economy, and it's been that way for a while. One has to think that's a trend that can't last forever. A guy who you can put in the middle of your lineup and can lead the league in SLG % is worth 25 million a year. And to be fair, Ortiz was probably underpaid many years. Imagine if Ortiz was all about the money, wasn't a late bloomer and hit the market at age 29-30 if he was born 10 years later? I'm not in the mood for making up numbers but I think inherently we can all agree he'd be making much fatter paychecks than he did otherwise.

Hello to all! I think it's been a long time since I've posted. I've been very busy with life! I lost a 400K account at work due to outsourcing, got married, and now have a baby on the way, and all pretty much happened one month after another so I've been very busy to say the least. But now that spring training is underway I feel compelled to find a little time here and there to get on my soapbox and talk sports. I love the JDM deal, I wasn't crazy about him at the end of 2017 but as time went on I really sold myself on him. From 2015-2017 the active leader in SLG % is Mike Trout, can you guess who is tied with Giancarlo Stanton next on that list? J.D. Martinez!!! They've actually been a very good comp for each other over the last few years. The plater who technically still qualifies who I ommited from this list is no other than David Ortiz at #1. Now I'm not going to try and say J.D. Martinez is a better player than Giancarlo Stanton, and I'd be willing to bet in ten years from now Stanton will be the one with the overall better career. I do believe that J.D. Martinez makes this offense better than Stanton makes the offense of the Yankees better. This aquasition was Yuuuuuuge.

Also lets see how things look after the offseason has been completed. There is easily room for improvement in this line up as is. A lot of guys were playing through injuries and underperformed. I expect DD to get a big bat, and I think it also wouldn't hurt to look at a relief pitcher who can shut down righties.

Sometimes things look nice on paper but the ultimate test will be the 162 game season. It's definitely intimidating to see a team like the Yankees go out and get a guy like Stanton. However, I thought the Sox would be unbeatable after they went out and got Crawford and Gonzelez and that team performed much worse than anyone would have guessed looking at that roster on paper before game 1 of the season.

Yup, It's maybe kinda a side ways move at the MLB level because you take a hit defensively in the outfield but you make up for it and probably at least marginally get better through improved offense. But overall the system is better, and that could come into play as you have suggested.

I guess it depends on your definition of "save" is. They can sign a big bat and still stay under the harder cap.

I see 2018 as a make or break year for Swihart. I have high hopes for the kid, and I wouldn't be surprised if he has a great season bouncing back. It could be a real uplifter for this team if he plays himself back into the fold.

I'd suggested earlier back a few months ago that the Sox could trade JBJ for prospects and then go after Stanton. I suppose they could trade JBJ still to replenish the farm and then slide Benintendi or Betts over the CF and stick J.D. Martinez in a corner outfield spot. Preferably LF at Fenway. With Health, I consider a strong bounce back with this lineups power as is. Adding a big bat could really help the offense make a big turn around next year. The questoin is, do we go all out and trade for a 1B/DH type? or do we try to save our pennies and go after a big bat next year? I've often contemplating signing Machado if he wanted to move back to SS and trade Bogaerts off next year. There is no way we can sign all of Sale/Betts/Bogaerts after next year and I'm sure some teams would be willing to pay high for 1 year of service if they don't have the money to get involved in next years monster sweepstakes.

I wonder how much Bogarets injury hampered him in 2017? If healthy, could he give this lineup a big boost?

More of a preference with me. DD paid to turn a bad team into a good team, I'd rather see a team build from within and then pay to turn a good team into a great team. I think if you do it the second way you extend your window. To each their own....that's what I wanted to see, I'm also 35 and not going to die anytime soon so perhaps that influences my philosophy.

In a vacuum, none of DD's trades look bad. My biggest issue was I thought he started the sell-off and go for it process 1-2 years too soon. Ben C. wasn't perfect either, if I was him I would have loved to of had that John Lakey trade back. He tried being the smartest guy in the room by being a seller and thinking he was buying low on MLB proven talent. If you're sellers you're sellers, he should of just stock piled the farm even further. As another poster earlier pointed out, you can re-stock the farm in almost one year IF you're willing to sell off your team at the deadline. The Yankees system took a giant leap forward by selling off their bullpen.

This team does have a nice solid core, a core that's going to get very expensive. This team will have some tough choices in a few years, that might entail them being willing to spend significantly over the luxury tax to be competitive.

Stocking the farm is enirely 100% why we're where we are. The farm exists to supplement the big club be through development or trades. Guys like Betts, Benintendi, Vasquez, Boaerts, JBJ all came from stock piling the farm. Guys like Pomeranz, Sale, and Kimbrel came from having a stock piled farm.

Well that's precisely the type of player you have to give up to get a guy like Stanton. The Sox don't have the farm system to pull off a Stanton trade, I'm sure Miami would love guys like Groome, Mata, and Chavis in their system but those would have to be augmented with MLB pieces and Benintendi has more years of control....which is precisely what you're looking for when you trade a guy like Stanton away. You're rebuilding so you want the guy who is cost controlled for more years.

I completely wholeheartedly agree, which is why I said I'm ok with the Utility guy starting for short stints. But there's a reason why teams go out and get a Todd Frazier when their 3rd baseman goes down. It just so happens that this team thought a guy named Rafael Devers was ready, or at the very least deserved the shot. But if the Red Sox didn't have a Rafael Devers I could've seen them being much more aggresive in the Frazier sweepstakes, or someone else who could start. Teams in general like to keep utility players utillity players. If you have to rely on your utility guy starting you're likely a team that isn't competing..

If they take on that contract, they're still taking probably $225 million of their books and getting back Benintendi/Erod/Groome. You had to give up 2 top prospects in all of the baseballs to get Sale for 3 years but at a better contract. Is Moncada/Kopech > Benintendi/Erod/Groome + taking on more money? IDK, I'd argue yes but at the end of the day if another team is willing to pay more you'd have to up that offer. I think dealing Erod opens the door to signing SP depth in too, where guys weren't willing to come to Boston now they may be. Plus we have Wright coming back too and perhaps Fister would be interested in competing for the 5th spot.

I'm ok with the bench guy starting for a week give or take a few days, but any longer than that then you need to either look outside the organization for a better option or you play the banged-up star if he makes your team better. All things considered.

I agree, Ben C. probably had his support at some point when Henry wanted to build the farm up and help rebuild the teams future. He decided to cash in and figured DD was the guy who had the better track record with more experience in that department. DD (at least up until this point) has had the full support of Henry, otherwise he wouldn't be here.

DD sold off the farm and built this team around winning the next 3-5 years from 2017 on. Now we can have impending cliff talks all day long but he at least gets to see how this team plays out. We've had two 1st place finishes and as far as I'm concerned he gets two more years before we even ask this question.....and this is coming from a guy who hasn't 100% agreed with his organizational philosophy.

Expectations were built really high for Xander Bogaerts, sometimes anything short of what a guys ceiling is supposed to be is a disappointment for some people. He's still very young, and could take another step forward if power comes but if all he is is the player he is today he is well worth the $510,000K investment it took to sign him.

My guess is a package of Benintendi/Erod/Groome could get you there if not close. Maybe for that package you could get them to swallow Hanleys deal too. They still get a ton of money off their books, it makes the money even for us for the next 1-2 years and they get a potential TOTRS, a MOTRS now for a few years and a young controllable outfielder for the next 5 years. If we're willing to go above the LT threshold we could easily go out and sign Martinez and then have a lineup that looks like Betts Pedey Stanton Martinez Bogaerts Devers JBJ Vasquez Travis

I mean, he was a 22-year-old who ended the season at .320/.355/.421. Not really sure that is deserving of any type of criticism.