Sarava

It surprised me how quickly the fans seemingly let it go over that Machado fiasco. I thought a grudge was going to be held over that, but that didn't seem to be the case. I do think the Sox plan on spending this winter. But at the same time, you can see from the fan posts and such, that everyone has limited their expectations. Nobody seems to expect Strasburg or Cole, even though Sox fans probably deserve one of them more than any fans in MLB.

Ouch no thanks. Not giving up Cease just to have Betts here one season. That kind of move would kill the rebuild.

I could see the Sox preferring this. $62.5 mil is a lot less to commit than say $80 mil would be. It probably wouldn't cost much in trade value, because of limited suitors and Boston likely needs to lose his salary.

The only thing I can think of, is that they see it as he came back to match his once high status as the top pitching prospect in baseball? But yeah, most improved, of course. I just don't see how he fits this award.

Not speaking for him, but I would put Lopez in the bullpen. OR let it be known he's on his last leg as a starter, and if he has a bad April....But we're obviously not getting both Cole and Wheeler. We'll be lucky to get one of them.

I'm in agreement that the Sox need to be focusing more on RF, DH, a TOR starter and maybe a bullpen arm or two - all before even thinking of replacing McCann. It's just not at the top of the list of needs. And it's certainly the easiest of the 8 positions to accept lesser hitting, if you are getting good defense and he is calling good games.

The odds of winning a trade of Moncada seems very low to me. I think the risk massively outweighs the potential reward. Just my opinion.

Same with me. I wouldn't even be comfortable with the Sox giving him $80 mil, let alone $160 mil. That's crazy. Avi might be the better option, then use the bulk of the cash on JD Martinez and starting pitching.

I agree that Tim would have to be on board with this. You don't want to create a negative situation.

I agree with this. I actually suggested this maybe a month ago. Didn't seem like many others liked the idea at the time. I suspect Tim would be very good in right field. A lot of his problems at shortstop seem to be his throwing. He like to fling the ball off balanced to first. On rush plays I get it, but he also does it sometimes when he has plenty of time to plant and throw, but he chooses not to. The great thing is, if they decided to go that route, they could have him start to work on it in the off-season and then would have the full spring training as well. I think a move like this would bring a tremendous team defensive improvement. TIm would probably play a good RF/CF, and you'd likely get far better defense at shortstop as well.

My original reply was based on your comment that 'despite them being instant upgrades'. Well here's some news for you, pretty much everybody is an instant upgrade over the garbage we had in RF (and DH) last year. People need to stop using that as an excuse to pump the tires on mediocre players (as you did in your first reply to me). And don't put words in my mouth again.

They ripped my heart out last winter. And you know what? I lived. I'll gladly over-psyche myself up again and hope the outcome is different again. It's more fun to live and think that way.

We'll have a better idea on that answer sometime in the next 5 months.

Phew...you scared me there. It's funny you mentioned Jack Parkman. I thought it was a very Parkman-esque post. Good job there. And I agree. I bag on Reinsdorf for being cheap as much as anyone, but I'm going to believe until shown otherwise. He broke his mold with Luis Robert, and I think it's time to break some other molds this winter. At least one particular mold that has been idle for the last 23 years.

With occasional average payrolls? Why is everyone lowering their sites so much? The Sox have had good payrolls before the last handful of years. There's no reason to expect any less now.

Whoa, we're you just calling for Zack Wheeler a few days ago? Why all of the sudden do you expect this winter to be a big flop?

His WAR was 2.2 and trending downwards. I mean, Cardinal fans don't seem to want him back all that much. Whatever they do, this guy is risky. Because he's going to get paid somewhat based on his potential to return to his Marlins form from from 3 seasons ago. Seems like a risky bad contract some team might be diving in to. And for the love of God, can we please stop using our bad production in RF as justification for bringing in some guys.

Didn't Ozuna hit .216 after the allstar break, or something like that? I mean, anyone's an upgrade with how bad RF was for the Sox, but that doesn't mean we have to settle for crap.

These obviously go hand in hand. If the Sox make a move that will seriously bolster this team's chance to win a World Series, that will invigorate the fanbase. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the one team already in the World Series, and the other that is 2 wins from the World Series, are both largely there due to dominating starting pitching.

I don't see an extension this early for Madigral. He doesn't profile as a potential 200+ mil player, which is probably what leads to the Sox wanting to do these early deals. But yeah, he should be a good one for a long time.

So regarding Cole and Strasburg. Rich Hahn has said over and over that the money will be spent. We have no reason to think that he isn't telling the truth, so... If the Sox bring their payroll up to 130-150 mil through various trades and free agent acquisitions, and they're kind average for baseball salary-wise... that still leaves all that money they've been banking the last 3-4 years of the rebuild. You know, the money he promised 'that will be spent'. Why can't they give Stras or Cole a huge signing bonus (from the pool of money that will be spent), thus lowering the AAV significantly, to a manageable price that they can afford going forward? Or am I being naive in believing that this banked money will ever leave JR's bank account?

I'm not sure either has a ton of value right now. Some value, sure, but eh... If Lopez can be moved for a nice RFer that has a few years of control left , I'd be all for it.

I would be ok with this if they signed Strasburg or Cole. Then I would understand the budget being stretched and thus going for a cheaper gamble at RF being worthwhile. If the SP they sign is Wheeler or cheaper, then I would expect more resources being throw at RF for a more sure thing.

That's where we hope an extension can happen this winter. Now is the time to act, before he can start to sniff free agency and a potential 250+ mil deal.

OK....but what the Sox really need is a TOR starter, not a #3 starter. But I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps they will target an arm via trade.